Intermarché-Wanty have grow to be the third crew to unveil their lineup for the Tour de France, with the Belgian crew throwing their weight behind Biniam Girmay as they search to stave off the specter of WorldTour relegation.
Girmay heads into the Tour because the reigning factors classification winner, having taken three stage victories on the way in which to taking residence the inexperienced jersey final summer time.
The Eritrean, who grew to become the primary Black African to win a Tour stage in Turin final July, has but to win a race in 2025. Nevertheless, he represents the crew’s finest likelihood of success on the Tour and can as soon as once more be within the combine for inexperienced.
French racer Louis Barré, the crew’s second-best performer this season, is a rider to look at in a younger Intermarché-Wanty squad largely geared round supporting Girmay.
The 25-year-old from Nantes is making his Tour de France debut and has 15 top-10 outcomes to his identify in 2025, Trofeo Laigueglia, Paris-Camembert, Amstel Gold Race, the Giro dell’Appennino, and two phases of the Dauphiné.
24-year-olds Vito Braet and Roel van Sintmaartensdijk are additionally making their Tour debuts, whereas 23-year-old Hugo Web page and 25-year-old Laurenz Rex are taking up the race for a second yr in a row.
Web page, the second Frenchman within the choice, has prime 10s on the Famenne Ardenne Traditional and Copenhagen Dash to his identify this season, whereas Belgian racer Rex carried out strongly all through the spring, having scored top-10 finishes at Traditional Brugge-De Panne, Gent-Wevelgem, Paris-Roubaix, and the Antwerp Port Epic.
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A pair of 27-year-olds, Jonas Rutsch, who completed sixth at Roubaix, and Georg Zimmermann, who received the Giro d’Abruzzo, spherical out the eight-man crew because the veterans of the group. Rutsch, who moved from EF Schooling-EasyPost over the winter, has two Excursions to his identify, whereas Zimmermann will race his fifth Tour.
“To construct on our success from the 2024 Tour de France, we began working again in August to assemble a crew squarely centered on stage victories for the 2025 version,” mentioned Intermarché-Wanty efficiency supervisor Aike Visbeek.
“Biniam Girmay is of course our spearhead for dash finishes and phases with difficult finals. We have strengthened the core round him by integrating Jonas Rutsch into our crew, alongside Laurenz Rex and Hugo Web page, and by repeatedly having skills like Vito Braet and Roel van Sintmaartensdijk race with Biniam.
“Roel’s choice marks an vital second for our construction. In 2023, he was the primary younger expertise to lift his arms with our U23 Continental Crew. Now, he is the primary from our growth construction to make his debut within the Tour de France, which speaks volumes concerning the progress made and the exhausting work of our workers.
“Vito is a quiet however highly effective power, able to performing effectively within the dash stage with robust profiles. Each are invaluable belongings for Biniam’s lead-out prepare. Jonas highlighted his potential at Paris-Roubaix; he is one among our choices for stage searching via aggressive racing.
“We even have two different severe contenders for stage wins with Georg Zimmermann, who’s driving his fifth Tour with us, and Louis Barré, the revelation of the primary season half. Each are able to animate the phases. Louis is making his Tour debut, and we’re wanting to see what he can obtain, particularly after what he not too long ago demonstrated on the Dauphiné.”
In addition to the first aim of in search of stage victories and holding Girmay within the factors classification battle, Intermarché-Wanty will head to France hoping to select up UCI factors as they battle towards potential relegation from biking’s prime flight for 2026.
The crew has received simply twice in 2025 and at present languishes in sixteenth place within the UCI rankings, with their three-year haul of 24,387 factors placing them simply 1,176 away from the Nineteenth-placed crew, Cofidis.
Girmay (775 factors), Barré (573), and Rex (487) are chargeable for nearly half of the crew’s 3,980-point haul this season, and the crew can be seeking to each so as to add extra to their tally this July.
Final yr’s Tour noticed Girmay rack up 3,352 factors on his personal; even a partial repeat efficiency from the crew’s star rider would see the Belgian squad secure within the WorldTour for an additional three seasons.
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