“I’ve honestly never had a lead-out like that,” Girmay beams after another sprint win

“I have to thank my teammates, because they did an amazing job from start to finish,” Girmay said with a sense of understatement. All of his helpers were still around him deep into the finale. “It was hectic, with lots of roundabouts, but we got through it well and smartly. We wanted to stay together going into the last kilometre and even though we’ve only known each other for a few weeks, we already know what to do.”

“They dropped me off with 200 metres to go — honestly, I’ve never had a lead-out like that,” laughed Girmay, who often had to do it alone at Intermarché-Wanty. This time he had riders like Hugo Hofstetter and Lewis Askey in front of him. “I only did the last one per cent — the rest was the team. We’re close with each other, we want to improve together, so this was really nicely done.”

Speaking to Cycling Pro Net, Girmay stressed that his start with a new team could hardly have gone any better. “That’s why I came to this team, and I’ve found the perfect guys here. It’s great to start the season like this — it gives motivation to keep building towards the biggest races. For now, I’ll do a small training camp, then it’s the Opening Weekend and then Paris–Nice.”

Girmay’s powerful sprint train ensured that plenty of other fast men were left empty-handed in Sunday’s Spanish one-day race. Milan Fretin finished second for Cofidis, and therefore—so to speak—became the first loser. “I think we waited a bit too long at the back of the peloton for the right moment to move up. It was hectic,” he said on Eurosport YouTube channel.

“I had Piet (Allegaert, ed.) with me, but the other guys weren’t there. And that isn’t easy — we knew that from previous editions. I knew what I had to do, but I did waste some energy, and then second place was the highest possible today.” Third-placed Matteo Moschetti (Pinarello-Q36.5) also called the race “hectic” and simply couldn’t do better. “This was what I had.”