Tour de France 2024: Hat trick! Girmay also sprints to victory on the 12th stage
Thomas Huber
· 11.07.2024
After his victories on stages 3 and 8, Biniam Girmay (Intermarche-Wanty) also celebrated victory on stage 12 of the Tour de France 2024. With a tiger's leap, he relegated Wout van Aert (Vimsa | Lease a Bike) and Arnaud Demare (Arkea-B&B Hotels) to second and third place just behind him in a wild bunch sprint. Demare was subsequently demoted to 67th place by the jury due to his riding style in the sprint. Mark Cavendish, originally fifth, was also demoted.
Ackermann in third place
After fourth place on stage 8 and third place on stage 10, Pascal Ackermann (Israel-Premier Tech) confirmed that he is one of the top sprinters at the Tour de France 2024 with third place on stage 12. The German was trapped behind Arnaud Demare in the final sprint, meaning he was unable to complete his sprint. His compatriot Phil Bauhaus (Bahrain-Victorious) finished seventh.
Unlucky Roglic falls back in the classification
12 kilometres before the finish, Alexey Lutsenko (Astana Qazaqstan Team) crashed on a road divider and triggered a mass crash. The riders immediately behind him also crashed - including Primoz Roglic (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe). Other riders were also held up, such as Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck), who was unable to launch a sprint for his sprinter Jasper Philipsen on stage 12. Primoz Roglic crashed, but recovered quickly. In the end, however, the group around van der Poel and Roglic, which had been held up by the crash, did not return to the peloton, meaning that the Slovenian Roglic lost almost two and a half minutes in the overall classification and dropped back to sixth place. The Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe captain was the unluckiest rider on the 12th stage of the Tour de France 2024.
Once again, I would like to thank my team-mates. Without them, I wouldn't be able to show that I'm the fastest. I felt good today and knew that I could deliver - if I got into a good position. I am happy that I was able to do it today and I will continue. - Biniam Girmay in the winner interview
Tour de France 2024: Results - the top 10 of the 12th stage
- Biniam Girmay (Intermarche-Wanty) 4:17:15
- Wout van Aert (Visma | Lease a Bike) +0:00
- Pascal Ackermann (Israel-Premier Tech) +0:00
- Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck) +0:00
- Anraud De Lie (Lotto-Dstny) +0:00
- Alexander Kristoff (Uno-X Mobility) +0:00
- Phil Bauhaus (Bahrain-Victorious) +0:00
- Bryan Coquard (Cofidis) +0:00
- Dylan Groenewegen (Team Jayco-AlUla) +0:00
- Ryan Gibbons (Lidl-Trek) +0:00
Tour de France 2024: The current standings in the overall standings
- Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) 49:17:49
- Remco Evenepoel (Soudal - Quick Step) +1:06
- Jonas Vingegaard (Visma | Lease a Bike) +1:14
- Joao Almeida (UAE Team Emirates) +4:20
- Carlos Rodriguez (Ineos Grenadiers) +4:40
- Primoz Roglic (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) +4:42
- Mikel Landa (Soudal - Quick Step) +5:38
- Adam Yates (UAE Team Emirates) +6:59
- Juan Ayuso (UAE Team Emirates) +7:09
- Giulio Ciccone (Lidl-Trek) +7:36
How the 12th stage of the Tour de France 2024 went
The start of the 12th stage in Aurillac was turbulent: there were repeated breakaway attempts - the Groupama-FDJ team in particular had set its sights on the stage and tried to break away from the peloton, first with Kevin Geniets and then with Quentin Pacher. However, the riders were quickly dropped again. It was only after 20 kilometres that the leading group of the day formed: Valentin Madouas, Quentin Pacher (both Groupama-FDJ), the stage 9 winner Anthony Turgis (TotalEnergies) and the mountain jersey holder Jonas Abrahamsen (Uno-X Mobility) made their escape.
Prominent tasks
Meanwhile, sprinter Fabio Jakobsen (Team dsm-firmenich PostNL) lost contact with the peloton early on and dropped out of the race shortly afterwards. Towards the middle of the race, Pello Bilbao (Bahrain-Victorious) also dropped out of the peloton - he was also forced to withdraw from the Tour de France 2024 due to illness.
180 kilometres before the finish there was the first scary moment for the yellow jersey: Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) was involved in a crash and fell. The Slovenian had to change his racing bike but, unlike Jonas Rickaert (Alpecin-Deceuninck), did not suffer any more serious injuries.
Alpecin-Deceuninck sets the pace
The race situation stabilised after the leading group of the day was let go. The sprinter team Alpecin-Deceuninck in particular was often to be found at the front of the peloton in the chase. At most, it allowed the breakaway quartet a lead of three and a half minutes. The peloton seemed to have full control over the breakaway. Alpecin-Deceuninck was active and ensured that the pace remained high. Some sprinters had to stretch themselves to stay in the peloton.
Abrahamsen continues to collect mountain points
While Turgis won the only intermediate sprint, Abrahamsen took all three mountain classifications, which means that he is level with the leader in the category Tadej Pogacar in terms of mountain points and can also wear the dotted jersey on stage 13.
67 kilometres before the finish, shortly after the last mountain classification, Anthony Turgis dropped back into the peloton - the breakaway's chances of success were too slim. By now, the lead group's advantage was less than a minute.
Runaways are caught
The peloton then came closer to the breakaway. With 42 kilometres to go, the day's leading group was swallowed up by the peloton. The teams then came together to prepare for a bunch sprint. In addition to Alpecin-Deceuninck, Bahrain-Victorious, UAE Team Emirates and Ineos Grenadiers came to the front to position themselves for a sprint or to avoid potential crashes as a classification team. Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe, on the other hand, remained in the centre of the peloton.
Scary moment in the peloton
With 12 kilometres to go, Alexey Lutsenko (Astana Qazaqstan Team) crashed, causing other riders in the peloton to fall and be held up. Among others, Primoz Roglic (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) was involved in the crash. The Slovenian lost almost two and a half minutes to the peloton and his rivals in the overall classification as a result of the crash.
Team Arkea-B&B Hotels went on the offensive for Arnaud Demare in the sprint. However, the Frenchman was overtaken in a hectic sprint on the final straight by Wout van Aert, who the Frenchman had previously trapped on the barriers, and stage winner Biniam Girmay. The three riders initially formed the podium on the 12th stage of the Tour de France 2024 before the jury demoted Demare.
