MAY – JUNE – An impressive harvest
Just like the previous year, Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert left its footprints at the Giro d’Italia, on the occasion of its second participation. From the Grande Partenza in Hungary, Biniam Girmay affronted Mathieu van der Poel in a duel for the stage win. The Eritrean rider conquered the white young rider’s jersey and then also wore the cyclamen points jersey thanks to five top 5 finishes in the eight first bunch stages.
At the end of the tenth stage in Jesi, he rewarded the team strategy and made a dream come true for Eritrea by becoming the first black African to win a Grand Tour stage. After a lead out of Domenico Pozzovivo and an incredible sprint of 300 meter, he preceded Mathieu van der Poel in another thrilling duel.
Despite the unfortunate withdrawal of Girmay, the team continued to shine with podiums for Lorenzo Rota and Rein Taaramäe and especially a second victory thanks to Jan Hirt, who won the queen stage in the Alps featuring the mythical Passo del Mortirolo. For the first time in its history, the Walloon team was represented in the top ten of the final classification of a Grand Tour, with Jan Hirt in sixth place and Domenico Pozzovivo in eighth place.
« Winning seems an evidence for a natural talent such as Biniam Girmay. But to rival with champions such as Mathieu van der Poel on their own terrain, that's just something incredible. We managed to build a tailor-made program and we supported him in an adequate way. We played the role of his second family. His two big wins and his will to extend with us until the end of 2026 are the proof. His surprise victory in Ghent-Wevelgem or his abandon at the Giro did not urge us to change our plans, because the development of Biniam Girmay is an important long term project. »
At the same time, the team harvested success on several fronts. Gerben Thijssen reached a personal milestone by taking his first professional victory in the Dunkirk Four Day, Alexander Kristoff won at home in Stavanger in the closing stage of the Tour of Norway and Andrea Pasqualon won the Circuit de Wallonie on the home soil of numerous team sponsors.
« Andrea Pasqualon embodies our strong link with Italy, which is both present in the Want You Club and among our technical sponsors. His victory in the Circuit de Wallonie embellished our common story even more. Even though he's changing teams, Andrea will always be part of the Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert family. Who knows, maybe one day he'll return to the team in a different role. »
The series of victories continued in June with the win of Louis Meintjes in the Giro dell’Appennino, his first success in seven years and together on the podium with Georg Zimmermann. Three days later, Taco Van der Hoorn won the Brussels Cycling Classic at the end of a memorable breakaway of which only he has the secret. The team in the Belgium Tour carried out the plan of the sports direction in the queen stage to perfection, resulting in the first professional victory of Quinten Hermans in Durbuy.
In the Critérium du Dauphiné, Hugo Page revealed himself at the highest level by finishing three times among the five fastest riders in the peloton, wearing the green points jersey for one day. Climbers Meintjes and Pozzovivo finished sixth in the Dauphiné and ninth in the Tour de Suisse respectively.
At the end of June, Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert established a new record at the national championships with time trial titles for Girmay (Eritrea) and Taaramäe (Estonia), and five other medals for Alexander Kristoff Barnabás Peák, Lorenzo Rota and Taco van der Hoorn.
« Several young talents broke through on the highest level in our colors this season. Next to Biniam Girmay, I'm thinking of Madis Mihkels, Hugo Page or Gerben Thijssen. It is a trademark of our team to show confidence to our neo pros or trainees by offering them opportunities from their first steps in the professional peloton. Thanks to the strong collaboration between our new Continental Development Team and the World Team, we made our structure even more attractive for future talents. »
