Can Biniam Girmay challenge at Paris-Roubaix?
Eritrean to make Hell of the North debut on Sunday
2024 Tour de France Green Jersey winner Biniam Girmay will make his Paris-Roubaix debut this weekend and says that he wants to “perform well” in the final race of a Classics campaign which hasn’t quite hit the heights of previous years.
Girmay, who turned 25 on the same day as Dwars door Vlaanderen last week, is without a win so far in 2025, but has shown some glimpses of the form that secured a first big Classics win at Gent-Wevelgem three years ago.
His best spring result this year was at the same race, finishing seventh as part of the chasing pack behind a marauding Mads Pedersen. In Dwars door Vlaanderen he was back in 17th and struggled with the pace in the Ronde van Vlaanderen, finishing 35th.
You could analyse from those results that Girmay is finding life difficult when the road goes uphill at present, especially in responding pace set by Tadej Pogačar last Sunday during the Slovenian’s second Flanders victory. With a flatter parcours, which also suits his support riders better, Roubaix might be Girmay’s best chance for a result this spring.
Girmay has raced on the cobbles of northern France before. In 2019, racing for the UCI World Cycling Centre, Girmay place 48th in the under-23 version of Paris-Roubaix - an edition won by Q36.5’s Tom Pidcock.
He will however become one of less than two-dozen riders from Africa to have ever competed in the men’s race - almost all of those coming from South Africa. Robbie Hunter’s 31st place in 2004 is Africa’s best-ever result.
A major factor in Girmay’s bid to win that famous cobble trophy will be Intermarché-Wanty’s team strength for the race. Over the winter the team, which Girmay is committed to until the end of the 2028 season, lost some major talent. This included Girmay’s key Tour de France and Classics right-hand-man Mike Teunissen who made his way to XDS-Astana. Other departures included Rune Herregodts and Madis Mihkels, who both would have played key roles in Roubaix, where the support of team-mates can be so crucial.
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Intermarché-Wanty are experiencing widely reported financial troubles and were unable to replace that trio with riders of equal ability. Girmay will rely heavily on the likes of Hugo Page and Laurenz Rex on Sunday. Good riders, but not of the same calibre as those who have departed the team. The drop in support for Girmay has been evident at times already this season, leaving him isolated at crucial moments, or without a firing lead-out train like he enjoyed in 2024. It’s a worrying trend as his defence of the Tour Green Jersey draws nearer.
An on-form Girmay can live with the best of them, but it’s unclear if he has managed to peak his top form this spring. When the likes of Van der Poel and Pogačar accelerate on Sunday, will he be able to follow? Or can he anticipate the race, or be part of a successful chase group that creates a bunch kick in the famous Roubaix velodrome?
The latter option is certainly Girmay’s most likely route to a good result, but the reality is that the chances seem slim up against the two kings of the monuments in Van der Poel and Pogačar. If all goes to plan, however, the Eritrean is one of a few riders in with a good chance of the podium.
Girmay is certainly hoping to show off his best legs in the third monument of 2025 this weekend, especially as millions of his countrymen and women will be able to watch back home.
“It is with great pride that I will be at the start of Paris-Roubaix for the first time in my career. Along with the Tour de France and Milano-Sanremo, it is the most broadcasted race in Eritrea and the one I dreamed of as a young boy,” he said in a team press release in which he also recalled his participation of the under-23 race.
“Six years ago, I participated in the U23 version, and I remember how gruelling it was, with the punctures, the crashes, and of course, its cobbled sectors,” he said. “It was a long road of survival filled with obstacles to reach the finish line. The Hell of the North cannot be compared to any other competition, not even the classics in Flanders. On television, you can't really grasp what it feels like to ride on the mythical cobbled sectors.”
Girmay seems realistic about the challenge ahead, but is also optimistic that he can perform well.
“My form is good, the race fits into the continuity of my program…I want to perform well, and for that, be constantly attentive to positioning and develop good sensations on the cobblestones. It is an experience that will also be beneficial for my future.”
How do you think Girmay will go at Paris-Roubaix?
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