Biniam Girmay Holds off the Peloton to Capture Second Stage Victory on a Blustery, Wet Stage 8 of the 2024 Tour de France

 

Stage 8 of the 2024 Tour de France departed from from Semur-en-Auxois, set for arrival in the commune of Colombey-les-deux-Églises on a 183.4 route. The stage was flat overall, with 2,400 meters of elevation gain travelling through the Burgundy region of France. The day featured the toughest weather of the 2024 edition of the storied race, with moderate cross-winds and wet roads, which did dry up a bit by the finish.

The current King of the Mountains classification leader, wearing the polka dot jersey, Jonas Abrahamsen (Uno-X Mobility) made a break early in the race along with Jordan Jegat (TotalEnergie) and two EF Education-Easypost riders. Abrahamsen dropped the rest of the group with 150 km to go.

At the intermediate sprint, Stage 3 winner Biniam Girmay (Intermarché-Wanty) was able to cross the line second to capture 17 points in the sprinting category to defend his green jersey. Gerben Thijssen (Intermarché-Wanty) was third across the line to gain 15 points, and Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck) came across in fourth for13 pts followed by Bryan Coquard (Cofidis) to get 11 points and then Arnaud Démare (Arkéa-B&B Hotels) for 10 points in the classification.

Abrahamsen reached the peak of the category 4 at the 86 km intermediate point Côte de Santenoge and the Côte de Giey-sur-Aujon at the intermediate mark 61 km from the finish towards the end of the day to capture additional points in the mountains classification and raise his total to 33 points.

With 30 km to go the peloton began to quickly reel in Abrahamsen, closing the gap from 1:30 at the 30 km mark to under 40 seconds by the 20 km mark. Abrahamsen was eventually caught with 14 km to go, but the hard-charging Norwegian was nominated for the most combative rider on the day for his efforts.

In the final kilometers, no riders sought to go off the front for a last-minute break to try to catch the peloton out. This meant that the teams in the peloton began preparing for a bunch sprint finish. The peloton got jumpy with 3 km to go, spreading out with some riders going slightly off the road, but coming together once again to prepare for a sprint finish with 2 km to go.

The finish was on a slight uphill, meaning that sprinters need to find another gear. Biniam Girmay was in perfect position with 700 meters to go on the fourth wheel, and despite pushes from Jasper Philipsen and Arnaud De Lie (Lotto-Dstny), Girmay would be victorious on the day.

Riders at the top of the classifications would remain in their places after the stage, with Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) keeping the Maillot Jaune for another day atop the general classification, Biniam Girmay keeping the green jersey as leader of the sprints alongside his second stage victory at the 2024 Tour de France, Jonas Abrahamsen maintaining the polka dot jersey as King of the Mountains as well as being the most combative rider on the day, and Remco Evenepoel (Soudal–Quick-Step) as the best youg rider.