“We did not push Biniam out” – Lotto-Intermarche boss says merger uncertainty drove Girmay exit

When Biniam Girmay chose to move on to a new challenge at the NSN Cycling Team, the decision landed in the middle of one of the most turbulent periods his former team had ever faced. According to Lotto-Intermarche manager Jean Francois Bourlard, timing and uncertainty around the merger played a decisive role.

“Biniam was very sought after by other teams with big resources,” Bourlard said in conversation with Cyclism'Actu. “Maybe at a certain moment, as the merger was taking time, he looked for some security and confidence in another team.”

Bourlard insists the door was not shut on Girmay from their side. “We did not push Biniam out, he had offers elsewhere and he made his choice,” he said.

Looking back, Bourlard described the partnership with Girmay as one of the defining successes of the team’s recent history. “We did some very nice things with him. Seeing him win at Gent-Wevelgem was a surprise for many, but not for us. Seeing him win on the Giro on a stage dedicated to Mathieu van der Poel, his three wins on the Tour, and the green jersey… what we experienced with our small project was incredible. He still has a lot to achieve. It will not be with us, but we are still on good terms and proud of what we did with him.”

Girmay’s departure came while Lotto and Intermarche were still navigating the complexities of merging two separate structures.

“This is the first time I am speaking today,” Bourlard said. “It was not an easy operation, a merger like the one we carried out. Our appearance before the UCI a few weeks ago, in front of the licence commission, clearly showed that they had some concerns. They were wondering how we were going to manage it. But I think that by the end of the meeting, the UCI almost congratulated us on the way we had done things.”

He admitted that from the outside, the process looked messy. “It is true that, from the outside, it was not easy, and I apologise in any case for the lack of communication at certain moments. But I think it also had to go that way.”

That lack of clarity was happening at the same time riders were trying to make decisions about their futures.

The merger did not just affect sponsors and branding. It reshaped careers. “With the riders, I think we managed to find solutions for everyone,” Bourlard said. “All the riders who had a contract for 2026 and whom we could not keep in the squad were placed elsewhere.”

The same applied to staff. “A maximum number of people who were under contract stayed. Others had to find another job. That was certainly not the most enjoyable part of the transaction, but we had to go through it, and today we are proud of the team that is in place.”

At one point, the combined structure held more riders than it could legally keep. “We found ourselves with 43 riders under contract, we had to make choices,” Bourlard said. “Some were unavoidable for administrative reasons because the UCI gave preference to Lotto riders.”

Budget was always part of the equation. “There is the sporting side and the budget,” Bourlard said. The new team, he explained, is financially stronger than either side was alone, but not dramatically so. “It will be stronger in terms of budget. We did not simply ‘double’ it, of course, because we had partners doing the same thing on both sides.”

Still, the outlook is more stable. “We are going to work with an interesting budget that will allow us to be a bit more comfortable and to look to the future with optimism. We have contracts for the next three years. We are going to build a new image that will be a mix of the two teams.”

That stability, however, arrived after the key decisions had already been made. For riders like Girmay, the choice had to be taken while the future was still unclear.

Beyond finances, the new entity faces immediate sporting pressure. “It must not become an obsession, but of course we want to stay in the World Tour,” Bourlard said. “That is also why we came together. We have targeted races that suit us in terms of our team’s potential.”

Points matter early. “We are not going to obsess every day over the rankings, but we know that the points taken in the first year are very important at the end of the third.”

For Bourlard, that reality explains both the merger itself and some of the painful exits that came with it. In Girmay’s case, he believes the story is simple.

The team was changing. The future was uncertain. And in that window of doubt, one of their biggest stars chose clarity somewhere else.