“If I'm the first guy down the Poggio I have to go full gas — 100% — and take full risks. If it's two or three guys, and if they go crazy, then I have to go crazy as well to follow. Because if you give them ten seconds then it's already done. It's not easy to come back after.” — Biniam Girmay.

"You feel it in the peloton. The nervousness comes — the fighting — and also from the DS guys. Already you feel it an hour or maybe an hour and a half before the Cipressa.”

"The team had a plan to drop in on the Cipressa and to still have two guys left to support me on the Poggio. Everyone did a great job, but there were some nervous parts in the Cipressa where I lost some guys and did some efforts myself. That then paid me back in the Poggio — feeling it in my legs"

The fight for position over the Poggio saw four riders go clear from a large bunch. Biniam arrived at the finish in a large group — thirty-two seconds after the winner, Matthieu van der Poel.