• The Cycling News forum is still looking to add volunteer moderators with. If you're interested in helping keep our discussions on track, send a direct message to @SHaines here on the forum, or use the Contact Us form to message the Community Team.

    In the meanwhile, please use the Report option if you see a post that doesn't fit within the forum rules.

    Thanks!

Biniam Girmay discussion thread

Page 15 - Get up to date with the latest news, scores & standings from the Cycling News Community.
I enjoyed this bit in David Walsh's piece today...

link(paywalled)

Last Monday, a message arrived from a stranger. He said his name was John Robertson and, bless him, he’s not only a primary schoolteacher but also a Burnley fan. Some have tougher loads to bear than others. School life, though, has its moments. On Tuesday morning, July 2, Robertson turned up at the usual time, not expecting anything different from the day before. Which only means he hadn’t been paying attention to the Tour de France.

He teaches at the St Peter’s Church of England Primary School on Cromwell Street in Leeds, where the vast majority of pupils are Eritrean. That Tuesday morning, virtually every kid at the school was joyous. “It’s Binny,” they said, “he won at the Tour de France.” Binny, of course, is Biniam Girmay, the sprinting star of this Tour. Now, on the 12th stage to Villeneuve-sur-Lot, he claimed his third victory in only ten days.

Robertson said they celebrated that Tuesday, because even he knew it is not every day that an Eritrean wins at the Tour. What the poor teacher couldn’t have known was that he’d be celebrating every few days. “What astounded me,” Robertson wrote “is just how revered he is by these young children. A national hero.” That’s the thing about the pebble; it drops into the water and the ripples wash up in places you never expected.
 
l-equipe-004318738.webp
 
He has two stitches in his elbow and a swollen knee. The elbow won't be a problem, but the knee could. He'll probably still win the green jersey, but he'll have to shadow Philipsen until the intermediate sprints and make the time limit in the queen stage. His teammates will help him.

He'd be a worthy winner of green, because he has a good combination of sprinting and punchy climbing.
 
To see him - a nice guy from outside biggest cycling countries, who rode for a team which was not among the giants in the sport - winning green is among the best feeling I've ever had from watching cycling, it's hard to explain. There were times when I had doubt about him, thinking he would only have one great season and all, to be proven wrong makes it a lot sweeter. Surprise me again, Bini!
 
Bini was under contract to Intermarché until 2026, and now signed for two more years until 2028. He says that Intermarché is like a family, but I wonder how much more successful he could be with a team with more resources.

View: https://x.com/IntermarcheW/status/1815383497072115757
Or intermarché could increase the budget and build a team around him. But let's see if he can keep this momentum going. He wasn't great in 2023 and the first half of this year.
 
Bini was under contract to Intermarché until 2026, and now signed for two more years until 2028. He says that Intermarché is like a family, but I wonder how much more successful he could be with a team with more resources.

View: https://x.com/IntermarcheW/status/1815383497072115757
I don't know if it's necessarily the case he'd be better with a bigger team though? In my view, a happy rider is a fast rider, and both Bini and Intermarché seem to understand very well what they've got together. Maybe on a bigger team there are more resource, but perhaps also a lot more pressure if/when a rider is going through the inevitable dips in form which come with the territory? In any event, it's a done deal and I'm looking forward to see what he does next!
 
  • Haha
Reactions: Sandisfan
Jul 22, 2024
14
27
80
I am very happy that Intermarche, certainly one of the teams if not the team with the smallest budget in the Worldtour, could extend this rider. Surely there is a pay rise for that, but still. If he stays fit, there is a good chance of numerous top results, ideally even victories. And not just in sprints. That's super important for a team like Intermarche. Conversely, there are few teams where a rider like Biniam would be so much in focus. Certainly a win-win situation for both sides. And also the chance that other riders might want to ride there.