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Cycling Weekly

Sport

Flo Clifford

Biniam Girmay powers to second Tour de France win on stage 8

Biniam Girmay Jonas Abrahamsen Uno Jasper Philipsen AlpecinDeceuninck Jasper Philipsen Jasper Philipsen Alpecin Tour (Event) IntermarchéWanty (Person) Neilson Powless EF EducationEasyPost Arnaud De Lie

Biniam Girmay (Intermarché-Wanty) claimed a second sprint victory on a chaotic uphill finish in Colombey-les-Deux-Églises, with Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck) forced to settle for second place once again.

The Eritrean made history on stage 3 as he became the first black African rider to win a stage of the Tour de France, and he was once again the strongest of the sprinters, this time winning in the green jersey as his fairytale Tour continues.

Arnaud de Lie (Lotto-Dstny) rolled across the line third, while Remco Evenepoel (Soudal Quick-Step) was the first of the general classification contenders to finish on a day where the overall standings did not change.

Girmay took 50 points for winning the stage to add to second place in the day's intermediate sprint, ensuring he has a healthy 88-point lead in the green jersey standings at the end of a wet, miserable day in Burgundy.

The punchy 183km route had looked like a potential day for the breakaway and Jonas Abrahamsen (Uno X-Mobility) did his best to produce a monumental upset. He escaped up the road almost from the flag drop, along with the EF Education-EasyPost duo of Neilson Powless and Stefan Bissegger. But his EF companions dropped away after the early climbs, leaving the Norwegian to ride solo.

He was caught with 15km to go, setting up the expected bunch sprint, where Philipsen led the charge but could not hold off the unstoppable Eritrean.

"It's unbelievable," Girmay said at the finish. "To win two times, I have to say thanks to God for everything. This victory I need to give to my mother and father, they believed in me and gave me all the support to become a professional cyclist. I'm so proud.

"I prefer this kind of sprint, because if it's really flat, the other guys are bigger and heavier than me so they can push more watts and go faster. But this finish for me, with my weight, was super nice. My team put me in the perfect wheel and gave me a good leadout, and I did my best sprint again. I have to also say thanks to the two Cofidis riders in front of me because it was a perfect leadout!"

HOW IT HAPPENED

It was a stressful start in pouring rain at Semur-en-Auxois, with the possibility of crosswinds later on no doubt contributing to jangling nerves in the peloton, but when the flag dropped there was less competition to make the breakaway than expected. A fleet of EF Education-EasyPost riders tore off the front, with a race-leading trio soon established as the remaining hopefuls were absorbed by the bunch.

The successful riders were Neilson Powless and Stefan Bissegger (both EF Education-EasyPost), alongside the immediately recognisable, full polka-dot kit of Jonas Abrahamsen (Uno X-Mobility). They meant business, dragging out a ten-second gap to 1:25 within 10km of racing. Quentin Pacher (Groupama-FDJ) tried his best to make it a leading quartet but failed to make inroads on the rolling parcours leading to the day’s first real climbing.

With three categorised climbs approaching in just 17km, the sprint teams of Lotto-Dstny, Alpecin-Deceuninck and Intermarché-Wanty took to the front to warn off any more potential attackers. The GC teams moved up too, jostling for position on the narrow, wet roads, with the all-yellow figure of Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) conspicuous near the front.

The gap to the leading trio was around two minutes as the bunch tackled the category 3 Côte de Vitteaux, a short climb that packed plenty of drama into just 2km. Abrahamsen took the maximum points at the top, uncontested by his EF companions, who seemed to be regretting their move – Powless was heard telling the Norwegian they could do with a bigger group.

That message was heard back in the peloton as more pink jerseys decided to set the race alight. Alberto Bettiol and Ben Healy (EF Education-EasyPost) launched an attack, splintering the peloton as scores of riders tried to jump onto their wheels. That move failed, but it was the catalyst for several counterattacks, including Romain Grégoire (Groupama-FDJ) launching at the start of the descent. Healy had another go but the Irishman was swiftly shut down, as the heightened pace among the peloton forced a group of sprinters out the back.

They had barely finished the descent before the next climb loomed up ahead: this, the category 4 Côte de Villy-en-Auxois, saw much of the same drama. Abrahamsen dropped his companions in search of the solo KOM point, but they didn’t appear bothered, seemingly waiting for their numbers to swell. A host of riders had a go on the 2.4km climb, including French national champion Paul Lapeira (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale), Fabien Grellier (TotalEnergies), Maxim van Gils (Lotto-Dstny), Warren Barguil and Romain Bardet (dsm-firmenich PostNL), but the strung-out peloton soon regrouped.

Jordan Jegat (TotalEnergies) was the next to try his luck, launching on the following climb, the category 3 Côte de Verrey-sous-Salmaise. He didn’t take long to join and pass the EF Education-EasyPost duo, who sat up and were caught at the crest of the climb. The sprinters’ group – including Mark Cavendish (Astana-Qazaqstan) – benefited from the calmer pace and rejoined the bunch.

Jegat soon found himself in no-man’s-land, marooned two minutes behind Abrahamsen and two minutes ahead of the peloton, and with the rain continuing to pour down he too cut his losses and sat up.

Abrahamsen continued to hoover up points, including at the intermediate sprint in Lamargelle. The real battle for points occurred more than five minutes behind him: Intermarché-Wanty performed a textbook leadout for green jersey leader Biniam Girmay, who won the sprint for second, and had teammate Gerben Thijssen cross the line third to deny Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck) the remaining points. Following Mads Pedersen’s withdrawal, Girmay’s lead in the points classification looks solid, with his nearest competitor – Abrahamsen – now 59 points behind, and third-placed Philipsen 68 points behind.

After the rapid, punchy start to the day the race took a collective breather, and Abrahamsen took advantage of the gently undulating roads and the slowing peloton to extend his lead to more than six minutes with 100km left to race. He took all the remaining KOM points on the final two categorised climbs of the day, the category 4 Côte de Santenoge and Côte de Giey-sur-Aujon, ensuring he would retain the polka dots until at least Wednesday. But as the kilometres ticked by his advantage was slowly, inexorably shaved down.

A small crash involving Barguil split the peloton in two, and while the crosswinds failed to materialise as feared, it took some time for the groups to merge as the sprinters’ trains – led by Lotto-Dstny for Arnaud de Lie – wound up the pace.

By the 50km to go mark all the technical climbing was over and Abrahamsen’s lead was down to just three minutes. The rain lashed down once again as the peloton and their prey – now within two minutes’ reach – entered the town of Chaumont, successfully navigating the slick roads and nervy corners without incident.

Abrahamsen’s 135km solo ride came to an end as he was caught with 15km to go, while all the sprinters – bar Fabio Jakobsen (dsm-firmenich PostNL) were present and correct at the front of the peloton.

As the final kilometre kicked uphill – averaging 3% – the fatigue in all the riders’ legs was evident. The sprinters were strung out and Bryan Coquard (Cofidis) launched early, with first Philipsen and then a perfectly-positioned Girmay coming round him. the front. Philipsen led the charge in the final few metres but Girmay produced an astonishing turn of speed to hold him off and secure another famous win.