Staff Reporter.
History-maker Biniam Girmay sprinted to his third victory at this year’s Tour de France but overall contender Primoz Roglic lost significant time after a late crash on stage 12.
Eritrean Girmay became the first black African to win a Tour de France stage with his opening win on stage three and also triumphed on stage eight.
Girmay, 24, beat Wout van Aert and Arnaud Demare in a frantic bunch sprint in Villeneuve-sur-Lot, with Mark Cavendish boxed in in fifth.
Tadej Pogacar retained the leader’s yellow jersey and remains one minute six seconds ahead of Remco Evenepoel, with defending champion Jonas Vingegaard a further eight seconds behind.
But podium contender Roglic, who finished with a ripped jersey and bloodied shoulder, dropped from fourth to sixth in the general classification after he lost two minutes 27 seconds on the leaders after being caught up in a late crash.
Pogacar was also held up behind a crash in the peloton early in the stage, and required a bike change, but re-joined the main group without issue.
The 203.6km route from Aurillac to Villeneuve-sur-Lot offered one of the few remaining opportunities for a bunch sprint – assuming the sprinter’s teams could control any potential breakaway.
A four-man group featuring Groupama-FDJ riders Valentin Madouas and Quentin Pacher, Jonas Abrahamsen of Uno-X Mobility, and Total Energies’ Anthony Turgis managed to open up a three-and-a-half-minute advantage over the peloton.
But that move was shut down with more than 40km remaining to set up a long-inevitable dash to the line, in which Girmay prevailed to further assert himself as the fastest sprinter at this year’s race.
In doing so he also extended his lead in the green jersey points battle, opening up a likely unassailable 111-point advantage over Jasper Philipsen.
A rare moment of calm in the peloton was interrupted with 12km remaining when Alexey Lutsenko crashed and took down Slovenian Roglic.
The Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe rider had been one minute 31 seconds adrift of the podium but that deficit now stands at three minutes 28 seconds.