Girmay pips Van Aert and Pascal Ackermann for his third Tour stage win as Arnaud Démare and Mark Cavendish were relegated for dangerous sprinting.
Biniam Girmay (Intermarché-Wanty) nabbed his third victory of the 2024 Tour de France on Thursday’s stage 12, which also saw Primož Roglič (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) lose a significant chunk of time on his GC rivals after he was caught in a late crash.
Girmay proved fastest in a hotly contested sprint in Villeneuve-sur-Lot, where both Arnaud Démare (Arkéa-B&B Hotels) and Mark Cavendish (Astana Qazaqstan) were later relegated. Girmay surged to the front in the final moments of the sprint to pip Wout van Aert (Visma-Lease a Bike), with Pascal Ackermann (Israel-Premier Tech) taking third after Démare’s relegation.
Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) finished safely in the bunch to retain his overall lead, while Roglič’s team pulled him over the line more than two minutes later. Roglič ultimately dropped from fourth to sixth in the GC top 10.
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How it happened
The 203.6 km stage from Aurillac had enough climbs in the profile to inspire at least some confidence in the chances of the early break, but the sprinters’ teams were having none of that. A four-rider move was allowed to build an advantage of a little less than four minutes before the pack tightened the leash.
Movistar and Alpecin-Deceuninck did much of the work in the peloton to chase down the break, which was caught with 40 km still to go, and the peloton sped the rest of the way towards the finish as a large group. The orderly approach to Aurillac was disrupted, however, as the peloton navigated traffic furniture in the center of the road with around 10 km to go. An Astana Qazaqstan rider went down in the middle of the pack and caused a big crash around him, with Roglič among those caught in the pileup.
Red Bull sent riders back to help Roglič chase, but he looked uncomfortable in the group and the gap to the bunch only grew over the last few kilometers as the sprinters’ teams continued to set a torrid pace for the peloton.
Jonas Abrahamsen, who had been in the break, still had the energy to lead the pack into the last 2 km for Uno-X Mobility sprinter Alexander Kristoff. Then, several teams started battling for position for the flamme rouge. It was Arkéa that led the way into the last 300 meters.
Démare enjoyed the slipstream of a teammate until he launched with about 250 meters to go. Van Aert was on his wheel and made an effort to come around on Démare’s right, but the Frenchman angled slightly towards the barriers there, forcing him to brake, a move that ultimately earned Démare a relegation to the back of the group. Cavendish, for his part, made a swing across the road in the waning moments, and was also relegated.
Inside the last hundred meters of the sprint, Girmay and Van Aert sped into contention, with Girmay taking the victory at the line just ahead of a frustrated Van Aert.
I said on the radio, ‘Guys, I feel super good, so let’s give me, everybody, small support, and I can deliver.’ I’m just super happy I could deliver it.
—Biniam Girmay after his win
Biniam Girmay celebrated a victory for a third time this Tour …
… and then he cooled down.
Brief analysis
A day after the jury gave Roglič the same time as Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-Quick Step) after a late crash, the Slovenian went down again, this time too far out to benefit from a 3 km or even a 5 km rule. The cycling gods giveth, the cycling gods taketh away.
Démare’s Arkéa team is not often so prominent in Grand Tour sprints, but the team came close to delivering him to victory today – except that they launched him just a little bit too early, and then he was relegated.
Despite having been forced to hit the brakes, Van Aert was able to work his way up to speed moments later, but the delay may have been the difference between victory and second place. He showed his anguish at the finish line.
Former Tour stage winner Mike Teunissen helped guide Girmay in the last few hundred meters, and then the Eritrean freelanced for a few seconds as Démare got up to speed. Girmay launched off of Kristoff’s wheel and surged to the win in the end.
Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck) was too far back at the decisive moment to really get involved in the sprint for victory. He ultimately finished fourth on the day (again, accounting for Démare’s relegation), undone by positioning, and not for the first time this Tour.
The race jury has been notably more strict on penalizing irregular sprinting than in 2023; today’s double relegations mean that half the Tour’s sprint stages so far have seen riders get relegated for dangerous moves in the final. Read more about how relegation works in our explainer.
Up next
Any of the sprinters that missed out on Thursday could get another chance on Friday’s stage 13, which runs from Agen to Pau. There is some up-and-down in the latter half of the day, but the sprinters’ teams have shown that they are willing to keep the escapees on a tight leash in this Tour, and that should set them up for another bunch kick on stage 13.