Cycling: Biniam Girmay has won the eighth stage of the Tour de France. The Eritrean has thus further extended his lead in the points classification.
Girmay wins ahead of Philipsen and De Lie
It is his Tour de France: Biniam Girmay (Intermarché – Wanty) celebrates his second stage win in this year’s Tour de France. The Eritrean was able to win a very tough sprint ahead of Jasper Phillipsen (Alpecin – Deceuninck) and Arnaud de Lie (Lotto – Dstny). He has thus further extended his lead in the points classification and is now the only rider who has already won two stages this year. The 183,4-kilometer section from Semur-en-Auxois to Colombey-les-Deux-Eglises ended somewhat surprisingly in a mass sprint. The best German was Pascal Ackermann (Israel – Premier-Tech) in fourth place.
EF Education – EasyPost on the offensive
There was a lot of fire on today's eighth stage of the Tour de France. First, Jonas Abrahamsen (Uno-X Mobility), Stephen Bissegger (EF Education – EasyPost) and Neilson Powless (EF Education – EasyPost) let three riders off the pace and built up a lead of over two minutes. Lotto – Dstny and Intermarché – Wanty then signalled that they wanted to force a sprint for their captains today. As the gap narrowed, EF Education – EasyPost was forced to revise their strategy. With Alberto Bettiol (EF Education – EasyPost) and Ben Healy (EF Education – EasyPost) they pushed the pace so hard that other groups formed in the meantime. At the same time, their two colleagues at the front waited for the stragglers. But the merger was not to happen, because everything in the main field came together again and Jonas Abrahamsen (Uno-X Mobility) now found himself as a lone soloist at the front.
Abrahamsen defends himself bravely
Although his prospects for success as a soloist were extremely slim, Jonas Abrahamsen (Uno-X Mobility). On the contrary: the Norwegian built up a lead of more than six minutes. He also won the intermediate sprint and all the mountain classifications. It was a successful day for the wearer of the mountain jersey, even if he was ultimately caught up as expected. The teams Lotto – Dstny and Intermarché – Wanty were primarily responsible for the follow-up work. Due to the high speed and the light rain, riders with strong sprint skills were gradually left behind, including Phil Bauhaus (Bahrain-Victorious).
“The power of the Green Jersey has delivered!”
Excellent for Eritrea as Biniam Girmay claims his second stage victory of the Tour de France!#TDF2024 | @IntermarcheW pic.twitter.com/g1Afmcsd16
- Eurosport (@eurosport) July 6, 2024