Biniam Girmay (Intermarche-Wanty) won his third stage victory at the 2024 Tour de France as he outsprinted his rivals to the line in Villeneuve-sur-Lot. The Eritrean accelerated on the final straight of Stage 12, beating second placed Wout van Aert (Visma-Lease a Bike) and third placed Arnaud Demare (Arkea-B&B Hotels) to the finish.
Calling the lead up to the sprint “chaotic,” Girmay said he felt strong and told his teammates that he was ready to sprint before the finish. “Today, for us, a breakaway could have gone to the end, that would have suited us well. But when it turned into a bunch sprint, I told my team over the radio that I felt good and was going to do it. It makes me want to continue to concentrate fully on the sprints. The green jersey gives me wings. I feel super fast,” said Girmay who told reporters that he changed his entire training regime this year to prepare for the Tour.
Demare was subsequently disqualified, moving Pascal Ackermann (Israel-Premier Tech) up to third.Mark Cavendish was fifth to the line, placing fourth after the change in rankings. Notably Cavendish did not have a lead out man at the finish, and neither did Jasper Philipsen.
A crash near the end of the stage for Primoz Roglic (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) saw him lose time in the GC, while Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) retained the yellow jersey. Pogacar continues to lead by 1’06” from second placed Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-Quick Step), and Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) is third at +1’14”. Roglic has dropped to sixth overall, now +4’42” off the leader Pogacar. There was speculation at the finish that Roglic had sustained serious injuries that could impact the rest of his Tour, but for now there was no official word from his medical team about his injuries.
A picturesque route ahead
AfterMichael Morkov tested positive for Covid-19 and the Astana Qazaqstan team’s medical staff took the decision to withdraw him from the Tour, stage 12 commenced with 167 riders. Riders would roll through the picturesque Cantal and Lot regions ahead on the hilly 203.6 km route from Aurillac to Villeneuve-sur-Lot, and as such, the early running saw several breakaway attempts failing in the first few kilometers.
Four men breakaway
Valentin Madouas (Groupama-FDJ) initiated a successful move ahead at km 19 and was quickly
followed by teammate Quentin Pacher (Groupama-FDJ), as well as Jonas Abrahamsen (Uno-X) and Anthony Turgis (TotalEnergies) (remember, the guy with the hair and beard). At first there was no quarrel from the peloton especially as their progress was disrupted by a crash at km 23. Although inconsequential, the day quickly turned into an ordeal for (Fabio Jakobsen Team dsm-firmenich PostNL) and then later Pello Bilbao (Bahrain – Victorious) who both abandoned the race due to illness. One has to wonder, is Covid rearing its ugly head again?
Abrahamsen and Turgis
Still wearing the polka dot jersey despite having lost the lead in the Mountain classification to Yellow Jersey Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) yesterday, Abrahamsen was the first to reach the summits of both the Côte d’Autoire (Cat. 4, km 62.8) and the Côte de Rocamadour (Cat. 4, km 84.3), where the four break riders maintained a lead of 2’10” over the peloton. Turgis then led the breakaway through the intermediate sprint point at Gourdon (km 110), where they still had a 1’25” lead over their pursuers in the main group. The top of the Côte de Montcléra (Cat. 4, km 135.5) climb was also reached first by Abrahamsen and by that time the peloton had reduced their deficit to 1’10”.
The finish at Villeneuve-sur-Lot
That Côte de Montcléra climb had seen Turgis lose contact with the other three riders in the breakaway and within 30 km the peloton caught up with the remaining three escapees (at km 162). With 12.5 kilometres to go a crash for Alexey Lutsenko (Astana Qazaqstan) when he tried to maneuver around tricky and illogical street dividers brought several other riders to the ground, including Roglic, costing him crucial time in the GC.
“It was a stressful final already,” recounted Pogacar after the stage. “I heard the big crash when it happened, with 12 kilometres to go, but it’s only at the finish that somebody told me that Primoz [Roglic] had gone down. ”
“It is really devastating. He was in very good shape already, and I could feel he was getting better and better with every stage. I’m pretty sure he would have been fighting for the GC in the next few days. It’s very sad that a crash has affected him. I hope that he is well, that he recovers quickly, and that he can fight back into contention,” said the Maillot Jaune.
After a flat final sector it was another frantic bunch sprint in Villeneuve-sur-Lot, with Girmay producing a brutal acceleration to beat his rivals to the finish line for his third win at this year’s Tour.
