Biniam Girmay powered to an impressive sprint victory at Clásica de Almería, delivering a perfectly executed team performance in a chaotic and crash-filled finale.
The race remained largely compact heading into the final ten kilometres, but tension rose sharply as multiple crashes disrupted the run-in and made positioning absolutely decisive.
In the middle of that chaos, NSN Cycling Team stayed calm and united.
Matîs Louvel controlled the race behind the early breakaway, keeping the gap under control and bringing the bunch back together with around 20 kilometres to go. As the pace increased, positioning became crucial. Louvel delivered his final effort inside the last ten kilometres before the sprint train began to take shape.
From there, Brady Gilmore, Guillaume Boivin and Lewis Askey took over to secure position at the front of the peloton. Inside the final two kilometres, Tom Van Asbroeck, Hugo Hofstetter and Lewis Askey completed a textbook lead-out, delivering Girmay into the perfect position to launch his sprint.
In a high-speed and technical finale, Girmay opened up with precision to take a convincing victory.
“From the start until the finish, our guys did a super incredible job,” said Girmay afterwards. “That’s why I came to this team — we have the perfect group. I just want to say thank you to everybody. From the start to the finish they did a perfect job.”
The victory marks Girmay’s second win of the season and underlines the cohesion already forming within the sprint group.
“You have to wait sometimes at the beginning of the year,” he added. “But now we already have two wins. It’s a perfect start to the season. It’s nice to start with this incredible teamwork. It gives us super nice motivation to work together and to build up for the biggest races.”
Sports Director Dimitri Claeys praised the commitment shown throughout the race.
“Bini finished it off with a fantastic sprint, but even more important was the teamwork. Communication was good, the fighting spirit was there, and the commitment from all seven riders was excellent. It’s beautiful to win after such a complete team performance.”
