Biniam Girmay says his target at the 2023 Tour de France is to win a stage of the prestigious cycling event that starts on Saturday.
The 23-year-old Eritrean cyclist will be making his debut at the event and comes with some reputation to his name.
He made history when he became the first Black African to win a Grand Tour stage at the 2022 Giro d’Italia. He has also won stages at Tour de Suisse and Volta a la Valenciana this year.
Girmay is the only Black rider at the 2023 Tour de France, and one of two Africans – the other being his teammate Louis Meintjes from South Africa. He says he is motivated to compete to win the famous yellow jersey on the biggest cycling stage.
Biniam Girmay, a young man from Asmara, is chasing his childhood dream in Tour de France and looks to inspire the future champions from Eritrea and all Africa ????????????
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— Intermarché-Circus-Wanty (@IntermarcheCW) June 30, 2023
“It’s absolutely really incredible. I’m super happy and motivated and looking forward to it,” Girmay said during a pre-race press conference.
“I think our goal for the team is to win one stage. We’ll try to do that and that’s also my personal goal.”
Girmay also narrated how he is taking confidence from his stage two win at the Tour de Suisse. It marked a return to form for the Eritrean after his disappointing spring campaign where he finished 97th at Gent-Wevelgem and crashed out of the Tour of Flanders, sustaining a concussion.
“When you look back on the Tour de Suisse it’s not a low level, it’s a high level,” he continued.
“So, when you win a sprint in this kind of race it gives me a lot of confidence and a big morale for the Tour. For now, and also for the future, it gives me a lot of confidence to sprint against the big rivals.
“I think first we need to see day by day how it’s going. We have ambition and planning from the beginning of the season to win one stage and to finish the Tour.
“After that, we’ll see day-by-day. I think this year will be different, but we never know how it’s going on and we’ll try to see every day.”
Girmay rides for Intermarche–Circus–Wanty and one of his teammates, Mike Teunissen, a Tour de France stage winner from four years ago, said he is ready to support his teammate’s dream as he plays the role of last man for Girmay in the sprints.
Biniam Girmay races his first Tour de France with number 1⃣1⃣1⃣
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— Intermarché-Circus-Wanty (@IntermarcheCW) June 30, 2023
“Of course, we try to support him as good as possible,” Teunissen said.
“It’s one of the biggest goals of the team. We have strong climbers, but they can also help to do the positioning in the wind on the more easy days.
“Then in Dion, Adrien and me we have three guys who are experienced in preparing a sprint and doing a lead out for Biniam. Of course, in the Tour it’s not always easy but we’ll try to put him in as good a position as possible and I think we can do good results in the sprints.”
The 2023 Tour de France runs from July 1 until July 23. It is the 120th edition of the race which began in 1903.
The race will begin in Bilbao, Spain and finish at the Avenue des Champs-Elysees in Paris.
