Will Biniam Girmay Wear the Green Jersey During His Tour Debut?
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The opening stage of the 110th Tour de France kicked off in Bilbao, Spain yesterday, July 1.2023. Of the 22 teams featured, spectators and commentators are anxious to see if team Intermarché-Circus-Wanty leader, Biniam Girmay, will claim a stage win and wear the green jersey in his Tour debut
“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,” said Girmay in an interview with Cycling News.
Coming into his first Tour, Girmay, 23, is in peak form. His Stage 2 win at the Tour de Suisse, boosted Girmay’s confidence to an all time high after he outsprinted 2022 Tour de France green jersey winner Wout Van Aert among other notable contenders.
“When you look back on the Tour de Suisse it’s not a low level, it’s a high level," Girmay said. “It gives me a lot of confidence and a big morale for the Tour.”
Winning at Suisse put Girmay in the history books. The Belgian cycling team rider is the first Eritrean rider to ever win a stage of that race. At the finish line, fans from the African country greeted him with jubilation.
“It means a lot,” Girmay told Cycling Weekly. “I knew there was no [Eritrean] to win in the Tour de Suisse, but the first time winning in front of my people, it’s amazing, I’m just so happy.”
Fans are not the only ones rooting for Girmay’s success at the Tour de France. Gamblers may hedge a bet on Girmay winning the green jersey based on former Sports Illustrated editor and SportsLine senior writer Gene Menez bullish prediction about Girmay.
“I prefer Girmay over pure sprinters such as Jasper Philipsen because Girmay has the ability to get over some of the lower-difficulty categorized climbs,” Menez said according to SportsLine.
The odds for the green jersey may be in Girmay’s favor considering Van Aert already declared that this year he would not be targeting the green jersey at this year’s Tour.
“Green was a great adventure, but stage victories are more memorable and the World Championships is the higher goal,” said Van Aert according to Sporza. “That’s why I don't want to focus on the points for green from the start.”
With Van Aert focused on helping Jonas Vingegaard defend his yellow jersey, Girmay will throw down the gauntlet with powerhouses like Mark Cavendish—the ‘Sprint King’—who won 34 of his 57 Grand Tour Stages at the Tour de France, Fabio Jakobsen, Jasper Philipsen, and Peter Sagan.
Sagan may not be seen as a likely contender because he’s nearing the end of his pro career and he’s been focusing on mountain biking. However, because this is his last Tour, he may throw caution to the wind and burn all his matches.
“Maybe I can still force something in the points classification,” Sagan told Het Nieuwsblad. An eighth green jersey is not impossible but with that new generation of riders, it will certainly not be easy.”
Girmay has his work cut out for him. His first chance at a stage win comes Monday on 185 km long Stage 3, the first “flat” stage of this year’s Tour, which means we’ll see sprinters like Girmay going for the line in a sprint finish. Everyone will be watching with bated breath for l’arrivée.
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