Month: May 2022

OPINION: MATHIEU VAN DER POEL AND BINIAM GIRMAY EXTEND STELLAR SPRING FORM INTO GIRO D’ITALIA

If Grand Tour opening stages are notoriously hard to predict there was something of the inevitable about Mathieu van der Poel’s victory beside the ramparts of the castle at Visegrad on Friday. And it was all the more fitting that it should come alongside another one of the spring’s key animators – and fellow Giro d’Italia debutant – Biniam Girmay.

Mathieu van der Poel and Biniam Girmay are so strong their rivals are literally falling over trying to follow them.

On an opening day of the Giro where much of the pre-stage debate surrounded the likelihood of the sprinters’ ability to get up the final climb, the race’s first maglia rosa was still contested by three of the peloton’s fastest finishers.

Mark Cavendish had checked himself out of contention long before the road to the castle at Visegrad tilted up to its maximum eight percent; Arnaud Demare, for all his Poggio prowess, did not go the distance, while Fernando Gaviria was one of the last to let the elastic snap.

But after the thrills and spills that saw both Lawrence Naesen and Lennard Kamna try gutsy long-range attacks, and Cavendish’s Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl team-mate Davide Ballerini crash out of the reckoning, came the moment that, in retrospect, seemed utterly inescapable.

Spoiler: it didn’t include Mathieu van der Poel. Or if it did, none of us could see him – perhaps on account of that olive green camouflage jersey, which worked a treat as Alpecin-Fenix’s main man ghosted past his fading colleagues, biding his time and keeping his powder dry until the last possible moment.

No, the slap in the face came when Girmay and Ewan found themselves on the front inside the last few hundred metres and it all dawned on us that, of course, the in-form Eritrean and his pocket-rocket Australian counterpart had the uphill armoury to last the course.

When they struck out for the line, Van der Poel was forced to give up his back seat and to react. The 27-year-old Dutchman won on a similar slope at Mur de Bretagne in his debut Tour de France last year on his way to a maiden maillot jaune. But he did so from the front, having already taken bonus seconds on the first ascent of the climb.

This time, Van der Poel came from behind with all the venom of a rider who earlier this spring added a second Tour of Flanders triumph to his name. It was somewhat fitting that the man he needed to beat to ensure the win was another rider who had enjoyed something of a flourishing spring: Girmay, whose victory at Gent-Wevelgem was a first ever for an African in a cobbled classic.

‘It was a really hard finish but I’m happy’ – Girmay on second place on Giro Stage 1

Van der Poel and Girmay are both making their debuts at the Giro but treated their Corsa Rosa curtain-raiser as if they were old hands at this game. Relatively speaking, Van der Poel is an old hand – his eventful week in France last July filled with more experiences than some achieve in an entire career. That perhaps makes what Girmay did out there under the Hungarian sun all the more impressive – for this was his first roll of the Grand Tour dice, at an age considerably younger than his counterpart, with a result far more impressive than Van der Poel’s own 20th place finish in the opening stage of the 2021 Tour.

For a brief moment it looked like the 22-year-old Eritrean had written himself another fine chapter in his meteoric rise; another historic moment for African cycling, and a feel-good result to be savoured by all. Victory and the pink jersey at the first time of asking would have been a fitting reward for a rider whose presence we will surely see atop the podium over the next couple of weeks.

But for all Girmay’s grit, Van der Poel is from another planet. Like Taylor Swift, the indefatigable Dutchman has a knack of delivering hit after hit; like Tyson Fury, no one can knock him down; like Midas, whatever he touches turns to gold – or, at least, turns to whatever colour the relevant race represents. So, after delivering the yellow jersey that always eluded his grandfather Raymond Poulidor, it was only natural that Van der Poel should become Van der Pink.

‘Bizarre’ moment Van der Poel fires Prosecco cork into his face after Giro victory

Of course, it was harder than simply deciding he’d like to change jerseys. As Van der Poel admitted afterwards, he found himself boxed in on the final climb and needed to dig deep to fight back into contention. But where other riders would have thrown in the towel, Van der Poel – by far the most talented all-round rider of his or any generation in the current pro peloton – found what he needed to deny what would have been an equally deserved victory for Girmay.

The two were head and shoulders above the others – so much so that Ewan, who had done admirably to stay in contention on the climb, made the rookie mistake of touching his front wheel to the back wheel of Girmay with the finish line gaping. The Australian hit the deck hard but will live to contest another day.

At this point it’s worth noting that this is not the first time Ewan has ended up in a heap on the finishing straight after a freak accident. Something similar happened in Stage 3 of the Tour last year, ending his race and with it his plans to ride all three Grand Tours in 2021.

That latest DNF meant the Lotto Soudal sprinter has only finished two of his eight Grand Tours to date. And he won’t finish this one, either. He said as much: Ewan aims to pack his bags and concentrate on his preparation for the Tour once he’s picked up a win or two. There’s no shame in that. But you sense both Van der Poel and Girmay will stick things out a little longer at this Giro. One of them may even bring home the maglia ciclamino. But for now, it’s not purple that adorns their respective jerseys.

Van der Poel’s latest triumph means his Alpecin-Fenix team have now won the opening sprint of the previous four Grand Tours: after Tim Merlier’s Giro-Tour double, fellow Belgian Jasper Philipsen kept the run going at the 2021 Vuelta. If it’s amazing that Van der Poel was not part of that run previously, it’s somewhat inexorable that he is now.

Stars of the spring, Van der Poel and Girmay, in pink and white, are on course to become stars of this early summer, too. And we’ve yet to even touch foot on Italian soil.

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Source: Dehai Eritrea Online

Biniam Girmay (Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux) is getting used to being a history-maker, and he wants to do it at the Giro d’Italia.

The Eritrean became the first rider from the African continent to win a cobbled classic and he could become the first Black rider to win a grand tour stage in what will be his debut at a three-week race. It is not for lack of talent that it hasn’t been done before, but a distinct lack of opportunities given to Black riders at pro cycling’s longest races.

Indeed, Girmay is one of just three Black riders — all of whom are from Eritrea — that are riding the Giro d’Italia this year. Winning a grand tour stage is already a dream for him but he says that the moment will be bigger than his own personal success.

“I would like to win more classics and a monument but, for me, a grand tour stage has always been in my dreams. So, tomorrow I will be riding a dream if I can win one grand tour stage,” Girmay said in a pre-race press conference.

“I think all riders have this dream to win in a grand tour, this is one of the biggest races. A Black rider has never won at a grand tour so I think for us this would be the best moment ever.”

The first stage is already a good opportunity for Girmay to get a victory on the board with a far from simple finale. The uphill rise at Visegrád averages around five percent for much of its gradient and hits a peak of eight.

There will be some sprinters, including Girmay, that should be able to handle the ascent, but punchy climbers such as Alejandro Valverde could spoil the party and take the first pink.

“We did a recon this morning. It’s not so steep but it’s not easy so it’s not only for a bunch sprint. I think for some sprinters it will suit them and for me it will be good,” Girmay said.

Girmay’s primary goal will be to secure that dream stage win, but there’s another potential target to come in the ciclamino jersey of the points classification. With his fast finish and ability to handle climbs, Girmay is a rider well suited to winning the competition.

Asked who might be his toughest competitor in the fight for ciclamino, Girmay had a short and simple answer.

“I think it will be Mathieu van der Poel if he finishes all of the Giro,” Girmay said.

In his first full year on the WorldTour, Girmay is finding new experiences and adventures as he goes. With the eight-day Tour of Rwanda the longest pro race that he’s done, the Giro d’Italia is a venture into the unknown for the 22-year-old and he’s looking forward to it.

“This is my first experience in a long stage race. I just did some five or six stages and no more so this will be my first big stages races so it will be good to get more experience,” he said.

Girmay won’t be the sole leader of the Intermarché team as Domenico Pozzovivo hopes to return to the grand tour GC hunt.

The Italian veteran came close to retirement this year following the collapse of the Qhubeka-NextHash squad at the end of 2021, but he was saved by Intermarché in February.

Pozzovivo’s ultimate aim is to place himself inside the top-10 for the first time since 2018. The result would close a chapter of his life that began when he was hit by a car during a training ride in August 2019, which left him with a broken leg and arm.

“I think there will be five contenders with no special one above the others. I think it will be very nice to see this in the Giro. For me, I will try to be between them,” Pozzovivo said. “Already after my accident three years ago, my target is to come back to the top 10.”

Source: Dehai Eritrea Online