After receiving a perfect leadout from his team, Biniam Girmay (NSN) sprinted to his second victory of the season at the Clasica de Almeria in Spain.
Girmay and his team avoided multiple crashes, which took down numerous riders in the final 15 kilometres of the race, before taking over the front in the final kilometre. Sitting behind teammates Hugo Hofstetter and Lewis Askey, Girmay had an armchair ride to the finish line as riders battled for his wheel behind him.
After the Eritrean rider opened up his sprint, no one could match his speed, and he held the front to the line.
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“To be honest, today, from the start until the finish, our team did a super incredible job, and that's why I'm coming to this team. And I find perfect guys. I just want to say thank you to everybody,” Girmay said. “The last 1k, we try to manage together. And, what can I say? We did a perfect dream job.”
“It's nice to start [the season] with this incredible teamwork. It will give us super nice motivation to work together and to build up for the biggest races,” added Girmay, who will head to Opening Weekend in Belgium before lining up at Paris-Nice.
Defending champion Milan Fretin (Cofidis) took second, and 20023 winner Matteo Moschetti (Pinarello Q36.5) was third in Roquetas de Mar. Dylan Groenewegen (Unibet Rose Rockets) put in a strong burst of speed but was a bit out of position and finished fourth.
“We were waiting for the right move, but I think we waited a little bit too long, and it was really hectic. And here in the final, I had Piet [Allegaert] with me, and the guys were not there. But it's not easy on this race, we know it from the years before,” said Fretin, who lost at least one teammate to one of the crashes.
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“The experience of the last years, I know what to do here in the final, and still came second. But I think for now, today was the highest I could do. I wasted a bit too much energy,” the Belgian concluded.
How it unfolded
The 20-team field for the 39th edition of the sprinters’ race included three former winners in defending champion Milan Fretin (Cofidis), 2023 winner Matteo Moschetti (Pinarello Q36.5) and two-time winner Pascal Ackermann (2019, 2020) of Jayco-AlUla.
Under sunny skies, the attacks came from kilometre zero of the 189km race with five riders, all from ProTeams, escaping early on after the start in Puebla de Vícar.
Working well together, Javier Ibañez (Caja Rural-Seguros), Pablo Carrascosa (Kern Pharma), Ander Okamika (Burgos Burpellet BH), Brem Deman (Flanders-Baloise) and Hungarian champion Marton Dina (MBH Bank Ballan Telecom Fort) built up a maximum lead of 5:37 after 50 kilometres of racing.
The early breakaway with Ander Okamika (Burgos Burpellet BH), Brem Deman (Flanders - Baloise), Pablo Carrascosa (Kern Pharma), Javier Ibañez Caja Rural - Seguros RGA and Marton Dina (MBH Bank CSB Telecom Fort) (Image credit: Getty Images)
The sprinters’ teams of NSN, Cofidis, TotalEnergies and Unibet Rose Rockets put one rider each in the rotation at the front of the peloton to slowly reel the quintet back, reducing their advantage to 19 seconds with 33 kilometres to go.
During their time off the front, Okamika was first on the first three categorised climbs that peppered the course - Alto de Celín (cat. 2), Alto de Río Chico (cat. 3) and Alto de Berja (cat. 3) - to secure the mountains jersey.
NSN, Unibet Rose Rockets, Cofidis and TotalEnergies each put a rider in the rotation to control the gap to the break (Image credit: Getty Images)
Although the escapees still held a small advantage as they crossed the line in Roquetas de Mar to begin the first lap of the finishing circuit, their move was always doomed, with the peloton back together by the time 24 kilometres to go.
At least four successive crashes at the back of the field took down different riders, including Valentin Ferron (Cofidis), Mikel Retegi (Kern Pharma), Bastien Tronchon (Groupama-FDJ United), in the final 13 km of the race.
Due to speed and the crashes, a now reduced peloton regrouped and was led by NSN. Cofidis and Lotto-Intermarché as they crossed the finish line to start the bell lap.
Teams battled for position in a fight for control in the final three kilometres. Tudor got organised at the front inside of 2 kilometres, taking over from Pinarello, but NSN pushed to the front with a full leadout train, with Arnaud De Lie (Lotto Intermarché) sitting on on Girmay's wheel. First of all Lewis Askey led into the final corner, and then Hugo Hofstetter took over, until Girmay opened his sprint and held it to the line.
Lyne has been involved in professional cycling for more than 15 years in both news reporting and sports marketing. She founded Podium Insight in 2008, quickly becoming a trusted source for news of the North American professional cycling world. She was the first to successfully use social media to consistently provide timely and live race updates for all fans. She is proud to have covered men's and women's news equally during her tenure at the helm of the site. Her writing has appeared on Cyclingnews and other news sites.
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