Intermarché - Wanty aim high to take the next step at classics with Biniam Girmay: "We're working on details"

Biniam Girmay ticked off more boxes than he had hoped for in 2024 with three stages and green jersey at the Tour de France. And while the Eritrean certainly intends to return for more Tour stages this year, his team Intermarché - Wanty would also love to see him in full force at the spring classics. And in particular at Milano-Sanremo.

"It's now a matter of working very hard on the points where he was still lacking," says Visbeek in an interview with In de Leiderstrui. He's confident in Girmay's abilities after his victory at Gent - Wevelgem three years ago. "In 2022, he already came very far with a combination of racing and good training."

However, the distance between Eritrea and Flanders is a long one, Visbeek also knows. "If, say, Victor Campenaerts and Tiesj Benoot want to train really hard for a day in November, they ride into the Flemish Ardennes and ride the cobblestones full throttle. That is perfect training for the winter, but Bini cannot do that."

But how are they going to make Girmay, who spends a lot of time during season with his family in Eritrea, a better classics rider at Intermarché - Wanty then? "The development is mainly about gaining toughness in those races. Point two is his flexibility and cadence, which also partly comes from his training in Eritrea."

"Milano-Sanremo is three hundred kilometres, of which sixty kilometres are raced and you are in the wheels for 240 at fifty per hour," Visbeek continues. "Where Mathieu (van der Poel, ed.) now has the flexibility to paddle 250 kilometres, Bini did not have that yet. Those are the details we are working on."

"I think it is good that we put that pressure on Sanremo. That way you challenge him to do everything well," thinks Visbeek. "Last year, the Capo Berta was ridden very hard. The lead-out men fell through and many teams had to work with the Cipressa men earlier. Bini was in the wind a few times and that is ultimately the difference," says the Dutchman.