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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.<\/b><\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
Intermarche-Wanty rider Girmay, 24, beat Wout van Aert in a frantic bunch sprint in Villeneuve-sur-Lot, with Mark Cavendish originally finishing fifth before being relegated.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
Pogacar, of UAE Team Emirates, 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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
“The green jersey gives me wings – I feel super fast. It’s in the head. I’ve had my ups and downs in recent seasons but I changed things this year and it’s working,” Girmay said.<\/p>\n
A rare moment of calm in the peloton was interrupted with 12km remaining when Alexey Lutsenko crashed and took down Slovenian Roglic.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
Reacting to Roglic’s incident, race leader Pogacar said: “It is really devastating. He was in very good shape already and I could feel he was getting better with every stage. <\/p>\n
“I\u2019m pretty sure he would have been fighting for the GC in the next few days.”<\/p>\n
Both Astana Qazaqstan rider Cavendish and Arnaud Demare, of Arkea-B&B Hotels, were relegated following illegal moves they made in the sprint.<\/p>\n
Stage 13 on Friday is a relatively flat 165.3km route from Agen to Pau but, as the race enters the Pyrenees, hilly terrain approaching the finish could prove difficult for the sprinters.<\/p>\n
That is one of only two expected remaining opportunities for the sprinters – including Cavendish, who claimed a record 35th Tour de France stage win<\/a> last week – to take victories at this year’s race, along with stage 16 in Nimes.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n