There Intermarchè – Wanty wants to have his say Tour de France 2024. Having reached their seventh participation in the Grande Boucle, the Belgian team is still hunting for its first victory in the French GT and hopes that this will be the year in which it will finally be able to take home a stage. To achieve this ambitious objective, therefore, Jean-François Bourlart’s team will rely on two spearheads who will be able to have their say in the sprint, both in the flatter stages and in those where the route may cause a skimming in the group. We are talking about Biniam Girmay and of Gerben Thijssenboth very young (24 and 25 years old respectively), but with already important results behind them.
In addition to their young age, the two also share the difficulties that affected them during the season and which caused forced stops. The sports director and head of the team’s performance sector spoke about it Aike Visbeek who, interviewed by Wielerflitsindicated the objectives of his team and his two captains: “[Dopo la caduta al Giro Biniam] he hasn’t lost much of his condition. He was fine in the Giro and recovered three days after the fall. We had to treat him with osteopaths and physiotherapists, but after the treatment he had excellent training sessions. What struck me is Biniam’s mental strength, he is a very combative person. He quickly resumed racing in some smaller races in Belgium and also won the Circuit Franco-Belge. This victory took away his disappointment, it was a good boost for him.”
“Due to the extra races in Belgium, however, Bini had to stay in Europe a week longer than expected – continued Visbeek – Now he has returned to Eritrea to train at altitude in view of the Tour. The difference is that he will start the Tour in a little less shape. He will need time to grow during the race. Or at least so we hope. If things don’t go well at the Tour, the disappointment will be even greater.”
However, things are different for the 25-year-old from Genk who, after suffering an injury at the Scheldeprijs at the beginning of April, has had more time and calmer to get back into shape and will now face the Tour of Belgium to complete his preparation: “Gerben is slowly improving – continued Visbeek – He is not yet at his best, but for this we will use the Tour of Belgium. On a physical level he has certainly taken a step forward. At the Volta ao Algarve, at Paris – Nice, at Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne he demonstrated that he has become a much better runner physically”.
The Belgian had managed to raise his arms to the sky twice at the beginning of the year, then several placings arrived: “We wasted some opportunities to do good sprints in March, like at Nokere Koerse or Bruges-De Panne, and this is not good Well. What we understood is that physically he is at the right point, he must improve and become more constant in his positioning. This is the most important point of his work […] He will make his debut at the Tour and as a sprinter it is a big step. Almost no sprinter has won on his Tour debut. But this is what we work for and this is what we hope to achieve“.
