The day after the 111th Tour de France’s fourth place rider Primož Roglič crashed on a descent, the Slovenian was caught up in a wreck on Tuesday with 12 km before the line that sifted him down the GC to sixth, with João Almeida and Carlos Rodriguez jumping over him. Biniam Girmay took his hat trick of victories on Thursday, and it’s going to be nearly impossible to remove his green jersey. Derek Gee was top Canadian in 31st.
The Course
There were many a ripple in the 203.6 km from Aurillac to Villeneuve-sur-Lot and three Cat. 4 climbs. It seemed likely Thursday’s conclusion would be a bunch sprint.
A hilly start and some undulating roads today at the #TDF2024, but at the end of the day, the sprinters should be the ones in the spotlight in Villeneuve-sur-Lot, where stage 12 concludes. pic.twitter.com/5v0vDaxI9p
— Soudal Quick-Step Pro Cycling Team (@soudalquickstep) July 11, 2024
So far the bunch sprints went to
Stage 3 Biniam Girmay
Stage 5 Mark Cavendish
Stage 6 Dylan Groenewegen
Stage 8 Biniam Girmay
Stage 10 Jasper Philipsen
It was so clearly a sprinter’s stage that only four riders bothered to light out on the breakaway. Jonas Abrahamsen, who had lost the KOM lead to Tadej Pogačar on Wednesday but who still wore the polka dots, was at its core, and after the second Cat. 4 he was a point adrift in the competition. One hundred and twenty kilometres remained.
Pello Bilbao, who had dropped 20 places from 15th on Wednesday, yo-yoed off the back of the peloton for 90 kilometres until he called it quits. Bahrain-Victorious had already lost Fred Wright the day before when he finished outside the limit. Santiago Buitrago remained the team’s top rider in 14th, three spots behind Derek Gee.
Girmay bolstered his green jersey lead over Philipsen by one point at the intermediate sprint. Philipsen’s Alpecin-Deceuninck took over the front of the bunch from Movistar heading towards the final Cat. 4, where Abrahamsen tied Pogačar on 36 King of the Mountain points. The fugitives were brought to heel with 41 km to go.
A big crash in the middle of the field with 12 km remaining caused by Alexey Lutsenko delayed a lot of riders. Of course, Primož Roglič got caught up in it and laboured in a group of 20 to get back on even terms.
In the sprint, Arnaud Demare led the charge, Wout van…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at Canadian Cycling Magazine…