Biniam Girmay Flies to Stage 12 Sprint Finish Wine at the 2024 Tour de France to Capture Third Overall Stage Victory

 

Stage 11 was a challenging day ending in the mountains with a battle between race leader Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) and third place in this years race and winner of the last two Tours de France, Jonas Vingegaard (Visma–Lease a Bike).

On Stage 12, which would be a a flatter day which began in the mountains and would end on a flat, fast stretch, the day was cooler at the start, but as the riders descended from the mountains at the start of the stage, the temperature and humidity rose, as storms threatened on the horizon.

With 165 km to go, a breakaway group, which included Jonas Abrahamsen (Uno-X-Mobility) in the Polka Dot Jersey, held a 3:30 lead on the peloton. Race leader going into the day, Tadej Pogačar lead in the King of the Mountains classification, but Abrahamsen in second was wearing the colors on the day, looking to recapture his lead in the category in the early mountains of Stage 12.

After arriving first atop the 140 km Côte d’Autoire with 140 km to go and then the Côte de Rocamadour, 119 km from the line, Abrahamsen would be only only 1 point behind Tadej Pogačar in the King of the Mountains standings.

93 km from the line, the intermediate sprint was on in the peloton. Biniam Girmay (Intermarché–Wanty) went of the front with Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin–Deceuninck), winner of Stage 10, chasing on his wheel. Philipsen was not able to hold the wheel of Girmay and make a move, finishing behind the two-time stage winner and Green Jersey holder. This took Girmay's lead in the points classification to 278, 75 points ahead of Philipsen in second at 203 points. 

75 km from the finish, the gap began to reduce quickly between the four riders in the breakaway off the front and the peloton, being cut down to under a minute.

Capturing the climb at the top of the Côte de Montcléra with 68 km to go to the finish, Jonas Abrahamsen grabbed another point to go even with Tadej Pogačar in the King of the Mountains classification.The peloton would then continue to whittle down the leader of the breakaway group, and as 34 km remained on the day, the group was caught.

With 12 km to go, a bad crash upended part of the peloton. Primož Roglič (Red Bull–Bora–Hansgrohe) was notably caught up in this and stayed down for a good bit of time on the pavement. Roglič and others were able to mount their bikes again, but quickly fell 1:30 off the peloton on the approach to the finish line.

With 5 km remaining, the pace accelerated rapidly as the sprinters prepared for the final push. Mark Cavendish found the wheel of Biniam Gimay entering the final 2 km as Jonas Abrahamsen led out teammate Alexander Kristoff (Uno-X-Mobility) after a strong day in the mountains at the early part of the stage. Jasper Philipsen was further back with 1 km to go, trying to move up and Pascal Ackermann sat on the fifth wheel. Arnaud Demare had his best chance of the 2024 Tour in the final 500 meters, however on the line, Biniam Girmay was able to overtake both Wout van Aert (Visma-Lease a Bike) and third placed Arnaud Démare (Arkea-B&B Hotels).

Primož Roglič arrived, unfortunately, at the line with a torn jersey and bloodied shoulder 2:27 behind the leaders, causing him to drop to fifth in the general classification. Tadej Pogačar will keep the Maillot Jaune once again, while Remco Evenepoel (Soudal Quick-Step) maintains his lead as the Best Young Rider. Pogačar will also hold the King of the Mountains classification once again, tied on points with Jonas Abrahamsen who put in a good showing on the day, while Biniam Girmay (Intermarché–Wanty) will keep the Green Jersey as leader of the points classification, having won the stage and expanded his lead in the classification to over 100 points.

Stage 13 will feature a mostly flat route from Agen to Pau covering a distance of 165.3 kilometers.