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2024, the Girmay Dependancy?
2024 was a key year for Intermarché-Wanty in order to stay clear of the relegation zone and to keep their World Tour license for the 2026-2028 period. The season was more complicated than the previous one for Jean-François Bourlart’s men, who secured 13 victories in 2024, a reduction compared with their 20 in 2023.
Five of these wins came from the same rider, the main leader of the Belgian team, Biniam Girmay. The Eritrean enjoyed the best season of his career at 24 years old, winning three stages during the biggest race in the world – the Tour de France. With these achievements, he became the first African rider to bring home the green jersey, writing history for his team, his country and his continent. Girmay also finished second at the Grand Prix of Quebec and seventh at Gent-Wevelgem, scoring important UCI points for his team.

Outside of the Eritrean, the Belgians Gerben Thijssen and Rune Herregodts also had great seasons, winning twice each. The former won two bunch sprints in Mallorca and the Algarve at the beginning of the season whereas the latter managed to win Intermarché-Wanty's only GC of 2024 during the ZLM Tour. The team's best climber was the South African Louis Meintjes who finished 20th at the Tour de France but also raised his arms at Itzulia Basque Country at the end of a stage where the peloton let the breakaway play for the win due to a terrible crash. Overall, Intermarché-Wanty finished the year at 18th place in the UCI classification, four places behind their ranking of 2023.


Not much change for 2025
This winter did not see a lot of movement for Intermarché-Wanty, as only six riders joined the Belgian team for 2025, mainly from the ProConti level.
After the losses of riders such as Rune Herregodts, Mike Teunissen andMadis Mihkels, Jean-François Bourlart and his staff needed to add new riders to their Flanders classics squad, in order to help Biniam Girmay and Laurenz Rex during the spring. The German Jonas Rutsch will be one of those recruits. At 26 years old, the German never triumphed at the professional level but has already showed great capacities on the cobbles, with an eleventh place at Paris-Roubaix in 2021. Alongside the former EF Education-EasyPost rider, the Belgian Luca Van Boven will also have a role to play during the cobbled part of the year. Though the native of Zottegem has never really had a breakthrough during a World Tour race, he performed well during the 4 days of Dunkirk, finishing fourth during the very difficult stage at Cassel.
Intermarché-Wanty did not only strengthen its Classics squad during the interseason. Indeed, some more punchy riders also joined the team, starting with Alexander Kamp. After a more complicated 2024 season, the former Danish champion will try to bounce back in a new environment. The former winner of the Région Pays de la Loire Tour has already performed during World Tour classics in the past, as proven by his third place at the 2022 Bretagne Classic. Alongside the Dane, Louis Barré and Kamiel Bonneu could also have their chance during hilly races. Though the former has never won at race at the professional level, the latter triumphed last season during the queen stage at the Arctic Race of Norway after an attack under the Flamme Rouge. Finally, the U23 European Champion Huub Artz could be the revelation of the team next season. The young Dutchman already impressed last season, finishing third at the top of Green Mountain during the Tour of Oman, while riding with the World Tour team, after a wonderful breakaway.
A great sprinting group
One of the strengths of Intermarché-Wanty in 2025 will undeniably be the sprint squad, once again. With plenty of quick riders capable of winning bunch sprints, these finishes could be a good source of success for the Belgian team next year.
First of all, the team's fastest sprinter and one of the quickest in the world, Biniam Girmay. The Eritrean had a wonderful 2024 and will hope to repeat his exploits in 2025. After opening his scoring in Australia, the Eritrean had to abandon the Giro before arriving at the Tour de France. There, the native of Asmara became a national hero, as he won three stages and brought home the green jersey, becoming the first African rider to do so. After an end of the season where he recorded great results in Québec (second) and at the BREMER Cyclassics (third), the Girmay finished the season at the seventh position in the UCI classification. In 2025, the former winner of Gent-Wevelgem will have the Tour de France as his main objective of the summer. Before that, he will ride a Classics campaign where he will try to write even more history by winning a Monument.

Girmay is the leading light for the Belgian team
Behind Girmay, Gerben Thijssen seems to be the second-fastest man on Intermarché's roster. At 26 years old, the Belgian has won once at World Tour level, during the 2022 Tour of Poland, but the majority of his victories have been at smaller races, including Belgian semi-classics such as the Bredene Koksijde Classic. After serving as lead-out man to Girmay during the Tour de France last year, Thijssen should have his chance to shine at the Giro this season, with the objective of coming as close as possible to a first Grand Tour stage win.
Around these two fast men, other riders from Intermarché-Wanty could also shine during a bunch finish. Among them, Arne Marit rounded off one stage of La Vuelta in the top 5 last season and also came close to winning during the Volta Ciclista Catalunya. His countryman Vito Braet also showed his abilities during the Spanish Grand Tour, with a third place in Santander, beaten only by Kaden Groves and Pavel Bittner. Finally, the young Frenchman Hugo Page also has really good speed, in addition to his talent in the hills.
How to exist in the mountains?
The consequence of concentrating their ambitions on Classics and sprints is that Intermarché-Wanty have more difficulties as soon as the road rises. Indeed, the team's best result at a Grand Tour was Louis Meintjes' 20th place overall at the Tour de France, more than an hour behind the podium. Though the South African has already finished in the top ten of several Grand Tours, it has been more difficult for him to influence the race in the past two seasons. At 32 years old, the former Vuelta stage winner has become a stage hunter, going in breakaways in order to shine.

Around Meintjes, Intermarché's mountain squad is quite poor. Indeed, when the peloton reaches the top of great summits, it is unfortunately quite rare to see the jersey of the Belgian team in the first group. However, the lack of great climbers in the team could also help some youngsters to reveal themselves and to become leaders. Alexy Faure Prost could be one of these riders. At only 20 years old, the Frenchman had a difficult season last year, in his first year at the World Tour level. However, his amazing performances in U23 races in 2023 shows Prost's great potential, and 2025 could be his year of explosion.
One of the other solutions for the team during difficult stages is to take the breakaway. Indeed, if riders like Georg Zimmermann or Kobe Goossens are not capable to compete with the greatest climbers in the peloton, they can shine in a group with less competition. That is what Zimmermann did in 2023, when he recorded the first victory of his career during the Critérium du Dauphiné, following a long breakaway. The German also came close to victory at the Tour de France the same year, only beaten by Pello Bilbao in Issoire. His Belgian teammate also had a good start to the year in 2023. Indeed, Goossens triumphed twice during the Trofeo Mallorca before recording a top 15 in the GC at Paris-Nice. However, last year was more complicated for the native of Leuven, who will hope to return to his best level in 2025.
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