Biniam spectacular sprint and beating notable contenders
Biniam wins Tour de France stage 12, Pogacar remains in yellow
Eritrean Biniam Girmay edged out Wout van Aert to win the 12th stage of the Tour de France on Thursday while Slovenian Tadej Pogacar retained the overall leader’s yellow jersey.
Girmay, who became the first Black African to triumph on the Tour when he won the third stage, sealed his third win at this year’s race on a day for the sprinters.
Eritrean professional cyclist Biniam Girmay, a member of Intermarché-Wanty, made history today with a hat-trick stage win on the 12th stage of the Tour de France.
Biniam completed the 203.6 km long race in 4 hours, 17 minutes, and 15 seconds, showcasing a spectacular sprint at the finish and beating notable contenders. Biniam has proven to be one of the greatest athletes of the tour.
Biniam Girmay has become the first cyclist to win three medals on the 3rd, 8th, and 12th stages of this year’s 111th Tour de France tournament.
Biniam Girmay has so far amassed a cumulative 328 points in the points classification, followed by Jasper Philipsen and Anthony Turgis in the Green Jersey competition, who have 217 and 141 points respectively.
“We didn’t want to take any risks today,” Intermarche-Wanty rider Girmay, 24, said after the 204 km ride from Aurillac to Villeneuve-Sur-Lot.
“But in the end, when everyone came together, I felt super good, and I said on the radio, ‘give me support and I can deliver’. So I’m just super happy.”
Girmay out-paced Belgium’s Van Aert and Arnaud Demare although Demare was later relegated to the back of the sprint bunch meaning Pascal Ackermann (Israel-Premier Tech) was promoted to the podium.
His win consolidated his hold on the green jersey with a 107-point advantage over Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck).
“From now on I will continue full focus on sprinting and the green jersey. As soon as I started wearing (it), I felt the fastest. If I have the right moment and the right position, I can prove myself in the sprints,” he said.
It was disappointing result for Van Aert who said he got “boxed between Demare and the barrier”.
“I should look back at what happened. Anyway, I had to relaunch my sprint – and I still came close to the victory. If I didn’t have to stop pedalling I would have had a good chance,” Van Aert said.
“It’s also important to take some good things away today – for sure, I’m happy that I felt good again.”
It was a quiet day for the general classification contenders with Pogacar protecting his one minute six seconds lead over Remco Evenepoel, followed by defending champion Jonas Vingegaard a further eight seconds back.
Pogacar’s compatriot Primoz Roglic, meanwhile, lost more than two minutes due to a crash towards the end of the stage.
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