{"id":754735,"date":"2026-06-23T00:50:16","date_gmt":"2026-06-23T00:50:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/754735\/"},"modified":"2026-06-23T00:50:16","modified_gmt":"2026-06-23T00:50:16","slug":"in-the-tour-they-go-twice-as-fast","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/754735\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cIn the Tour they go twice as fast\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"


\n\u201cIt does not get better than beating Tim Merlier in a direct duel,\u201d Bewley said in conversation with WielerFlits<\/a>. \u201cThis was an important week in several respects. To see where the competition stands compared to ourselves, but also to learn how they sprint and position themselves. If you want to compete at the front in the Tour, then you have to be able to take on Merlier, Kooij and Philipsen here.\u201dGirmay gives NSN Tour belief<\/p>\n

Girmay\u2019s win came on the opening day, when a strong lead-out and sharp timing carried him past Merlier and Max Kanter. Kooij and Philipsen were boxed in behind, but the broader message of the week was clear enough: every sprint required perfect execution.<\/p>\n

Girmay did not repeat that win across the remaining stages. His positioning was less convincing afterwards, while Merlier, Kooij and Philipsen all found their own moment. Bewley still saw enough in the opening victory to treat Belgium as a useful marker before July.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe general level is so high at the moment that everything simply has to fall into place,\u201d he said. \u201cWe knew he was in good shape, and that he can win if we execute the plans perfectly. But that also applies to those other three. In the Tour they go twice as fast again as in any other bunch sprint. Then you only win if absolutely nothing goes wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n

Girmay\u2019s 2024 Tour success created a new benchmark, and a different kind of pressure. Expectations rose sharply, especially from Eritrea, while small setbacks in preparation and the adjustment to a new team left NSN working through the details behind the scenes.<\/p>\n

\"Biniam<\/p>\n

Biniam Girmay won the Green Jersey at the Tour de France in 2024<\/p>\n

NSN work through the Girmay puzzle<\/p>\n

Girmay\u2019s move to NSN has brought a fresh sprint project around him. Bewley said the team had needed time to understand not only the sporting details, but also the way Girmay works best away from racing.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt has not necessarily been difficult, but it has been interesting,\u201d he said. \u201cWe had to answer different questions together. What is the way he likes to prepare? Does he prefer being away a lot, does he like going back home to Eritrea, or does he prefer training in Europe? How does he respond to altitude? What kind of communication does he like with the sports directors and coaches?\u201d<\/p>\n

NSN have made practical changes around Girmay, including giving him a more stable European base with a residence permit in Spain. The team have also had to refine his sprint group, lead-out preferences and positioning.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Classics were therefore not ideal,\u201d Bewley said. \u201cAt that point we were still fully in the process of getting to know and understand each other, and he was still new. But the opposite was also true: he had to get used to our way of working. We have now worked a few things out, which means he will perform better at the next goals.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Biniam<\/p>\n

Girmay joined NSN at the start of the 2026 season<\/p>\n

The \u2018Bini effect\u2019 before July<\/p>\n

Those next goals are obvious. Girmay\u2019s Tour de France record is already historic, but NSN believe there is more to come if the final sharpness arrives over the next two weeks.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe believe he is still the same rider who won all those stages in the Tour. He is back in that form, but he has to become sharper,\u201d Bewley said. \u201cThe Tour is important for every rider, but you can tell from everything that this race means an enormous amount to \u2018Bini\u2019. Over the past weeks and months he has been super professional and focused with that one goal in mind. Winning here gives us momentum and extra confidence to succeed there and go for stage wins. We are all looking forward to that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bewley also pointed to a growing presence from Girmay inside the team. \u201cI am pleasantly surprised by the way he takes leadership,\u201d he said. \u201cHe is open-minded, but also not afraid to share his own perspective, to speak in the bus and motivate everyone. Internally, we are gradually calling that the \u2018Bini effect\u2019, because he lifts everyone else up with it. He is a strong leader and seems very happy, and that may be the key to success.\u201d<\/p>\n

Belgium did not settle the Tour sprint hierarchy. It did show that Girmay is back in the same conversation as Merlier, Kooij and Philipsen before the race where he made history two summers ago.<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" \u201cIt does not get better than beating Tim Merlier in a direct duel,\u201d Bewley said in conversation…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":754736,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[445],"tags":[265667,129873,49,48,635,145101,266788,82,636],"class_list":["post-754735","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cycling","tag-baloise-belgium-tour","tag-biniam-girmay","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-cycling","tag-nsn-cycling-team","tag-sam-bewley","tag-sports","tag-tour-de-france"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/754735","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=754735"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/754735\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/754736"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=754735"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=754735"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=754735"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}