The third day of the tour brings a small sensation: Biniam Girmay is the first professional cyclist from Eritrea to win the Tour de France. The sprinter from the team led by Augsburg-based Zimmermann is touched.
Biniam Girmay cried after his greatest career success. The 24-year-old from Eritrea celebrated in tears as he became the first professional cyclist from the African country to win the Tour de France. The professional cyclist from the Belgian Intermarché team led by Georg Zimmermann from Augsburg was initially speechless in the shadow of the Stadio Olimpico in Turin.
“I can’t believe that I’ve won the Tour de France on my second attempt,” he said after the race. The man of faith thanked God and dedicated the victory to his fellow countrymen and his family. “It means a lot to me, especially for the continent,” he said happily.
Girmay won the third stage after the 230.8 flat kilometers between Piacenza and the northern metropolis of Turin in a hectic final spurt, ahead of Colombian Fernando Gaviria and Belgian Arnaud de Lie. It was the first victory for the Intermarché team. There was a party atmosphere on the team bus. Sports director Aike Visbeek enthused: “This is very important for his whole country.” He hoped that the “ambassador” Girmay would get more people from his homeland into cycling.
Carapaz wins yellow jersey
Girmay wrote cycling history in the northern Italian city of Turin. The boy from Asmara, who left one of the poorest countries in the world to live his dream, actually made it and created a first for the 111th edition. “When I started cycling, I could never have imagined that I would be taking part in the Tour de France.” He described his victory as “unbelievable.”
Girmay had once come to Europe through the development program of the world cycling association UCI in order to finally make it as a professional. In 2022, Girmay had already celebrated historic successes when he won the classic Gent-Wevelgem and took a stage at the Giro d’Italia before he unfortunately had to leave the tour because he shot a champagne cork into his eye during the award ceremony. Teammate Zimmermann praised his colleague, who is always “good for a surprise”.
There was also a small surprise in the overall ranking. Richard Carapaz took over the yellow jersey of the overall winner from superstar Tadej Pogacar. The Ecuadorian benefited from being a few places ahead of Pogacar on the sprint stage. In total, four riders are tied in the overall ranking, including defending champion Jonas Vingegaard and young Belgian star Remco Evenepoel. When determining the overall winner, the cyclist who has the best average placings will be the winner.
Aldag calm despite Roglic’s time loss
Primoz Roglic is currently not among the top four. As expected, the shooting star of the top German team Red Bull did not make a big jump back into the ranks of the other top riders. The day before, the Slovenian’s lead over fellow countryman Pogacar, Vingegaard and Evenepoel had grown to 21 seconds. But his team remained relaxed. “We lost a bit of time, but it felt like we didn’t lose the Tour. And that’s a good thing,” said sports director Rolf Aldag.
After two exhausting days in Italy at high temperatures, the weather had cooled down at the start of the week. There were fewer ice packs on the neck and ice vests visible in the field of riders. Mark Cavendish must have had a good blow. On the first day, he collapsed on the first climb after the start in Florence, had to vomit and only just managed to cross the finish line, 39 minutes behind the French stage winner Romain Bardet.
Cavendish with mechanical defect
On the third day of the Tour, Cavendish, who is desperate to score his 35th stage win and claim the sole record ahead of legend Eddy Merckx, suffered another minor setback. With 89 kilometers to go, he had a mechanical problem and fell back. However, he returned to the field shortly afterwards, which remained largely closed throughout the race.
It was not until just 66 kilometers from the finish that Frenchman Fabien Grellier launched a powerful attack, grabbed the mountain points on the Côte de Sommariva Perno and was caught again just 28 kilometers from the end of the stage. After that, the teams were all focused on the mass sprint.
Philipsen and van der Poel unlucky
The Belgian sprint king Jasper Philipsen came away empty-handed, did not finish in the top ten and missed his seventh Tour victory. Philipsen’s most important helper Mathieu van der Poel, the current world champion, had a defect just six kilometers from the finish and was unable to help his team colleague. The German sprinter Phil Bauhaus came sixth. Even veteran Mark Cavendish did not come close to his single-stage victory record.
On Tuesday, there could be major changes in the overall rankings for the top favorites around Pogacar and Vingegaard. The professionals will ride over the 2,642-meter-high Tour classic Col du Galibier. In total, the first kilometers of the race in France after the start in Italy will be 139.6 kilometers from Pinerolo to Valloire.
Source: Stern
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