This Thursday, Eritrean Biniam Girmay offered the first success of the season for Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux, dominating a sprint of strong men on the Trofeo Alcudia (1.1, 27/01), the second one-day race of the Mallorca Challenge. Girmay, 21, concluded the formidable teamwork of the men led by Aike Visbeek and Pieter Vanspeybrouck, who took its responsibilities from the first kilometers of the race.
The Belgian World Team thus participated in the chase behind the morning breakaway of three riders, controlling a gap which peaked at almost five minutes. The difficult climb of Coll de Sa Batalla (8.7 km at 5%), located 50 kilometers from the finish, appeared as the main threat for a sprint finish. Surrounded by his teammates, Girmay managed to climb to the top with a heavily skimmed peloton, accompanied by Loïc Vliegen.
Despite late attempts to avoid the sprint, a small peloton would eventually shared the honors in Port d’Alcudia, in the northeast of the island. U23 vice-world champion Girmay came up from the left, thanks to a powerful effort, and reached the finish line ahead of his opponents to offer the first victory of 2022 for the team on its second day of racing.
Tomorrow, the Trofeo Serra de Tramuntana will cross the eponymous mountain range on a particularly demanding 158 kilometer course, which features notably the Puig Major (14.6 km at 6%). Jan Bakelants, Kobe Goossens, Laurens Huys, Alexander Kristoff, Andrea Pasqualon and Kévin van Melsen will represent the team at the start in Lloseta.
I am overwhelmed by this victory and the euphoria of all members of the team! It's really nice to start the season like this and to continue our fantastic winning spirit from last fall. I started the year with a lot of confidence, but it's fantastic that I was able to beat some of the world's best sprinters here in my second day of racing. Before that I had to survive the long climb in the final. I really suffered, but thanks to the help of my teammates with the positioning I was able to start the sprint with good legs. I am grateful for their support throughout the race, we are a really close group. And I also want to thank the staff. I like the courses and pleasant weather conditions here in Mallorca, it is the very first time I visit this beautiful island. I hope to keep the momentum going in my next races of the Mallorca Challenge this Saturday and Sunday!
We can be proud of how the team performed today. We took our responsibilities, because with Biniam Girmay and Alexander Kristoff we had two solid options, each for a specific scenario. Either a sprint with a reduced group or with a larger group. Thanks to Biniam's victory, the hard work put in this winter is immediately rewarded. The performances confirm the good impression we already had during the training camp. The riders we expected on from the start of the season are showing up already here in Mallorca. This victory, so early in the season, gives a lot of confidence to the whole team. We can thus pursue our strategy with serenity and keep building.
