This Friday, a little after 22h Belgian time, team Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux concluded its very first race on the American continent with a podium, thanks to Biniam Girmay.
The 22 year old rider took third place in the sprint of the Grand Prix Cycliste de Québec, at the end of sixteen laps of 12 kilometer in the heart of Québec.
He rewarded the impressive work of his teammates, who took responsibility from the start. First, by controlling the composition of the breakaway and then by maintaining the gap to the attackers under four minutes.
In the final race hour several attacks strongly reduced the peloton, but Biniam Girmay could still rely on the support of Sven Erik Bystrøm and Loïc Vliegen to bring him to the front towards the red flag.
Girmay rode a fantastic sprint in the Grande Allée, taking third place behind the escaped Frenchman Benoît Cosnefroy and the Australian Michael Matthews.
« I’m very happy with this third place at my first participation in the GP de Québec! It feels unreal to achieve a podium from such a strong field of riders with many of world’s best classic riders. The level was very high and the pace was hard from the start. Of course we expected a challenging race on this course with several tricky corners and the long and steep climb towards the finish. But actually my teammates did all the work for 90 percent of the race, I only had to focus on the final 500 meter. I want to thank them for their work, this achievement is also for them! »
