At the end of the longest stage on the 2024 Tour de France it was Biniam Girmay of team Intermarche – Wanty who grabbed the win, beating Fernando Gaviria (Movistar Team) to the line. It was the first Tour de France stage win for Girmay and for his team Intermarche – Wanty.
In the sprint in Turin, Girmay was too strong for his rivals, getting the better of Gaviria, with Arnaud de Lie (Lotto-dstny) in third place and Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) and Dylan Groenewegen (Jayco-AlUla) completing the top five.
Meanwhile Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost) as he took control of the Yellow Jersey for the first time in his career.
No breakaway
It was the third day of the 2024 Tour de France with the route covering 230.8 kilometers between Piacenza and Turin, making it the longest in this year’s race. The sprinters’ teams deterred any serious potential attackers because of the lack of mountains, and the flat finish.
Racking up points
The race passed through Tortona (km 70.8) paying homage Fausto Coppi (named after the ‘campionissimo’), one of Italian cycling’s true greats. On the Côte de Tortone, Jonas Abrahamsen (Uno-X) added another point to his Mountain classification tally, while wearing the green jersey. At the Alexandrie intermediate sprint (km 94.3) Abrahamsen added nine more green jersey points in seventh place, with the sprint won by Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek), just ahead of Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck) as the two stayed ahead to finish in Turin.
Moments in the spotlight
Local Italian rider, Matteo Sobrero (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) went over the Côte de Barbaresco (Cat 4, km 156.1) in first place, with his entire family and fan club there to enjoy the moment. TotalEnergies rider Fabian Grellier accelerated with 66 kilometers to go and left the peloton, going over the Côte de Sommariva Perno (Cat 4, km 181.4) alone with a 40″ advantage at the top of the climb. Grellier was later reeled back by the peloton with 28km to go, but his efforts were rewarded with the Most Combative rider prize.
An unexpected scramble in Turin
Several crashes in the last 5 km into Turin fragmented the peloton, and took out some of the primary lead out team riders, among them the stage favourite Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck), while his teammate Van der Poel has a late puncture, and lost contact with the bunch. The fight for stage victory went down to a bunch sprint at the finish, with Girmay crossing the line first, ahead of Gaviria, De Lie, Pedersen and Groenewegen.
Richard Carapaz’ finishing position on the stage puts him in the Yellow Jersey for the first time in his career to make it an incredible day for him and the EF Education-EasyPost team. Jonas Abrahamsen meanwhile, keeps the polka dot and green jerseys.
