Intermarché-Wanty

Biniam Girmay is a professional rider from Eritrea who currently rides for the Intermarché-Wanty team.

Girmay was a highly talented junior rider and signed for the French Delko team at the start of the 2020 season. In his first year as a professional rider he won two stages and the points jersey in La Tropicale Amissa Bongo in Gabon before heading to Europe and taking a credible second place at the Trofeo Laigueglia in Italy.

Those performances caught the attention of Intermarché and in 2021 Girmay won the Classic Grand Besançon Doubs in France for the team and took second place in the U23 men’s road race at the UCI Road World Championships in Belgium. 

In 2022 Girmay enjoyed a huge breakthrough, winning Gent-Wevelgem from a small group sprint and then claiming his maiden Grand Tour stage win at the Giro d’Italia in May. Girmay was soon awarded a new contract, with his current deal at Intermarché set to expire at the end of 2026.

In 2023, Girmay won just two races, the biggest of which was a stage in the Tour de Suisse.

Biniam Girmay

Tech

Pro Bikes

Tour Down Under pro bike: Biniam Girmay’s Cube Litening Aero C:68X

It’s been a case of ‘so close yet so far’ over the first two stages of the Tour Down Under for 

. The Eritrean star started the race with a runners-up spot before dropping to fourth on 

 as he once again came up agonisingly short.

 rider so far, there will be plenty of opportunities to top the podium over the remaining stages. Leg power alone won’t be enough to triumph though, and Girmay will be partly relying on his Cube Litening Aero C:68X bike.

We caught a glimpse of the bike and his build ahead of stage 1, and there are some interesting features hidden within.

Tour Down Under pro bike: Sam Welsford’s stage 1-winning Specialized S-Works Tarmac SL8

While some brands have strayed into superbike territory, Cube is currently sticking to dedicated aero and climbing bikes, with Girmay’s Litening Aero C:68X falling into the former category.

It’s a traditional aero bike that sticks to a tried-and-test formula consisting of deep tube profiles, aggressive geometry and chunky seat and chain stays. This chunky theme also extends to the junction between the head tube and seat tube, plus the stem which is one of the bulkiest we’ve seen. Bigger tubes result in more weight but that doesn’t matter here as the Aero, as the name suggests, is all about being as aerodynamic as possible.

These tube profiles and the overall design, Cube says, were formed using Computer Fluid Dynamics and real-world tunnel testing. The result, according to Cube, is a “30% reduction in drag”. That makes the bike sound fast and, while we can’t verify those numbers, it certainly looks fast, especially when it’s in the hands of Girmay.

Chunkier tubes don’t always make a bike more aerodynamic, though, which has spurred a trend for narrower head tubes. Cube has hopped aboard this trend too and the head tube is noticeably thin, especially compared to the rest of the tubes on the bike.

When looking at the bike, it’s hard not to be drawn to the aforementioned integrated bar and stem. Clearly sticking to the idea that bigger tubes are better, the latter is as wide as the top tube and almost as deep. It really catches the eye, that is if your attention hasn’t already been arrested by the fluorescent bar tape - the team’s bikes aren’t difficult to pick out in the pro peloton.

This bar tape adorns the handlebars which, as is expected on a WorldTour bike, benefit from full integration with no cables in sight. If we’re being honest, there would be no excuses if the cables weren’t integrated considering the size of the stem.

If you can pull your eyes away from the frontal area of the bike, there’s also a nifty piece of tech to be found on the Newmen SL R.65 wheels in the form of the valves…or lack of. On first inspection, there doesn’t appear to be any but don’t be deceived as they are there, they’re just hidden inside the wheel. The main giveaway is a small flap that covers the hole where the valves hide, except it’s a Schrader valve rather than the usual Presta version. While it’s unique to the WorldTour peloton, the tech has been around for a couple of years now and is inspired, unsurprisingly, by aerodynamics.

That’s the unique tech out of the way, but the rest of the build follows modern trends, starting with the Shimano Dura-Ace groupset. Take a walk around the WorldTour peloton and you’ll struggle to find many bikes that aren’t adorned with Shimano drivetrains. That’s because the Japanese brand provides groupsets for 14 of the 18 WorldTour teams and Intermarché-Wanty is one of them.

Girmay’s specific set-up also conformed to current norms, with his 54/40t chainset by far the most popular option in the pro peloton, as is the 11-34t cassette he paired it with.

Sporting a 28mm width, the bike’s Continental Grand Prix 5000 tyres were also on-trend while Girmay’s saddle of choice was the Prologo Dimension Tri.

Narrow Handle Bars, Perfect Bike Saddles & Chain Wax | GCN Tech Clinic

Are Super Strong Cyclists Killing Racing? | GCN Show Ep. 591

The 2024 Giro D'Italia Story So Far! | GCN Racing News Show

I Built A £17,000 Bike. WAS It REALLY Worth It?

Biniam Girmay

Biniam Girmay's Bikes

Tour Down Under pro bike: Biniam Girmay’s Cube Litening Aero C:68X

Subscribe to the GCN Newsletter