Biniam Girmay will return to the Giro d’Italia next month, his Intermarché-Wanty team announced on Saturday. The Eritrean made history at the race two years ago when he became the first Black African rider to win a stage at a Grand Tour.
Girmay claimed a fine sprint victory ahead of Mathieu van der Poel in Jesi on stage 10, though he was unable to start the following day after being struck in the eye by a prosecco cork during the podium ceremony.
After making his Tour de France debut in 2023, Girmay has opted to return to the Giro this year. The 24-year-old has been training at altitude at home in Asmara since he brought the curtain down on his Classics campaign at the Tour of Flanders.
“Biniam Girmay brought us unforgettable memories during his first participation in the Tour of Italy two years ago," performance director Aike Visbeek said in a statement released by Intermarché-Wanty on Saturday.
"But at the same time, there remains a feeling of unfinished business because he was not able to defend his chances until the end. He is very motivated to return there with important objectives.”
Girmay won Gent-Wevelgem and a stage of the Giro during a remarkable first full season at WorldTour level, but he didn’t make quite the same impact in 2023, save for a stage win at the Tour de Suisse.
For 2024, Intermarché-Wanty tweaked Girmay’s build-up to the Classics by sending him to start his season in Australia, where he scored an early win at the Surf Coast Classic. Teammate Rein Taaramae later succeeded in joining him for a training camp in Eritrea and the new approach looked to paying dividends when Girmay performed strongly at E3 Harelbeke and then placed 7th at Gent-Wevelgem.
He was forced to abandon Dwars door Vlaanderen after going down in the same crash as Wout van Aert, and the incident surely had an impact on his low-key display at the Ronde. No matter, he will look to the Giro with ambition.
“The 2024 edition once again offers great opportunities for his type of riders, thanks to the numerous stages with a difficult finale that can lead to a group sprint. For these reasons, we decided with Biniam to include the Tour of Italy in his programme,” Visbeen said.
“To be there at the Giro, he is following the same preparation as two years ago, with altitude training at his home in Asmara. And he can rely on two of his experienced lieutenants, Adrien Petit and Dion Smith, among others.”
