Biniam Girmay had never run the Paterberg or Aude Quaremont before going all out in the finale of the E3 Saxo Bank Classic, but his lack of experience was hardly an obstacle in Friday's race.

While a dominant win by Wout Van Aert and Christophe Laporte would make headlines on the day, Gil May's solid fifth place in his first cobbled classic was more than a mere footnote to Jumbo Visma's remarkable rise.

Certainly, given the quality of Gilmey's performance throughout the opening weeks of the season, it was not a surprise at all. Of course, racing in this corner of the world is rarely beginner-friendly, but the 21-year-old had already expressed that intention in an interview with Het Nieuwsblad the night before the race.

"I race to win," he said.

Gil May was true to his word. Although he missed Van Aat's first choice on the Teyenberg with 80km to go, he bridged the next three climbs on the Eikenberg. On the toughest slopes of the Paterberg, he stood up to the onslaught by Van Aert and Laporte until the end.

On the following Kwaremont, where the tandem of Jumbo Visma already had an unassailable lead, Gilmey concentrated his efforts on a lonely chase over the last two climbs. Meanwhile, on the flat section to Harelbeke, the chasing pack tried to pull away to sprint for third place, but Stefan Kühn (Groupama-FDJ) managed to pull away in the last kilometer.

"I was attacked several times in the last 10 km. I was almost at the limit, so I'm happy with fifth place," Gil May told reporters outside the Intermarché Wanty-Gaubert bus after the race.

"I know everyone was at their limits, but I did my best and followed every attack. In the last 800m [Küng] came from behind and I couldn't follow him, but I'm happy because I've never raced like this before."

Gil May races for a Belgian team, but his European base is in San Marino, which limits his exposure to the cobblestones. By his calculations, he has not raced on cobblestones since last year's World Championships in Leuven, where he finished second in the U23 road race. He had not even previewed the E3 Harelbeke route. In other words, his first experience of the Flanders Ardennes was riding with Van Aert and others. This is only his second race in Belgium this year.

"I just watched the race on TV, I didn't know the roads, and this was my first time. So it was really difficult. Sometimes my position was a bit back, but the team did a great job and I was able to stay at the front. But E3 was one of the most difficult races of my life.

"I learned a lot from every race, from the start to the finish. But I need more experience in positioning. But I had the experienced Andrea Pasqualone and Adrien Petit on the team, who told me over the radio where to be."

Gilmey's only obvious mistake was dropping back too far during Van Aert's initial onslaught on Friday at Teyenberg.

"I wasn't in position at the time, but I was calm because I knew the peloton would come back because there were strong riders behind me and we had a long way to go," said Jilmay. 'I tried to stay with Van Aert and Laporte, but I couldn't. They were too strong.

As he crossed the finish line in Harelbeke, an exhausted Girmay quickly sat down on the road to catch his breath.

It has only been in the last decade or so that the World Tour has taken notice of Eritrea's cycling tradition.

Next week, Girmay will return home for high-altitude training before making his Grand Tour debut at the Giro d'Italia. Despite his remarkable performance in Harelbeke, Intermarche Wanty-Gobert resisted the temptation to ask him to postpone his expedition until after the Tour of Flanders.

"Yes, but I already have plans for this year, so I'll stick to them. But in the future, I need to race more in Belgium because all the classics there are on my mind," Gilmey said.

His team management obviously thinks so, too. Gilmey was originally scheduled to compete in La Rue Touranger in France this weekend, but will instead compete in Ghent-Wevelgem.

"There's a race on Sunday," Gilmey said cautiously. . in Belgium," he smiled, "yeah, normally."