Biniam Girmay of Eritrea claimed a hat-trick in this year's Tour de France after crossing the line first in Stage 12 following a mass sprint on Thursday. Meanwhile, Slovenia's Primoz Roglic was left bloody after falling off his bike for the second straight day, and lost more than two minutes to his title rivals.
Biniam Girmay celebrates after winning Stage 12 of the 2024 Tour de France in Villeneuve-sur-Lot, France, July 11, 2024. /CFP
Earlier this month, Girmay became the first black African to win a stage on the Tour after the third day of the 2024 edition, and was first again in Stage 8. He then proved fastest in Thursday's bunched sprint finish to top the podium ahead of Wout van Aert and Pascal Ackermann. Girmay now leads the points classification with 328 points, while Philipsen sits second with 217.
Overnight leader Tadej Pogacar remains 1 minute and 6 seconds ahead of second-placed Belgian Remco Evenepoel, with two-time defending champion Jonas Vingegaard of Denmark 1:14 behind in third.
Tadej Pogacar is pictured with the yellow jersey during the podium ceremony after Stage 12 of the 2024 Tour de France in Villeneuve-sur-Lot, France, July 11, 2024. /CFP
Pogacar's UAE Emirates teammate Joao Almeida is now fourth in the overall standings, with Ineos Grenadiers rider Carlos Rodriguez moving up to fifth.
Title contender Roglic had been fourth overnight, but ended up 2:27 behind Girmay in Stage 12 after a fall that left his shoulder bleeding.
The Slovenian looked haggard as he crossed the line after taking a couple of minutes to get back in the saddle and then struggling home over the final 12.5 kilometers. The fall took place outside the zone where late crashes are overlooked for overall times.
The 34-year-old was involved in a crash for a second consecutive day after an Astana Qazaqstan rider failed to see a slender traffic island and took down approximately a dozen riders.
The Tour lost two more participants as Dutch sprinter Fabio Jakobsen found it too hard to keep up with the swift pace of this year's race and fell off the back to retire. And Spanish rider Pello Bilbao took ill in the 33 degrees Celsius heat and pulled out halfway through the stage, unable to maintain the pace.
Four early attackers opened a gap of almost four minutes after breaking away at 34-kilometer mark and only being reeled in after 164 kilometers. Jonas Abrahamsen is level with Pogacar in the mountain classification on 36 points, but Slovenia's 2020 and 2021 Tour de France champion is ranked as the nominal leader due to his higher overall standing.
Friday's Stage 13 is one of the last obvious sprint stages on a flat run from Agen to Pau, the gateway to the Pyrenees Mountains.