Tour de France - Girmay wins third stage - Roglic crashes heavily
Biniam Girmay from Eritrea won the twelfth stage of the 111th Tour de France, securing his third stage win. The man in the Green Jersey outpaced Belgian Wout van Aert and Frenchman Arnaud Demare in the mass sprint after covering the 203.6 kilometers between Aurillac and Villeneuve-sur-Lot. German Pascal Ackermann finished fourth in the sprint.
Approximately ten kilometers before the finish, a mass crash occurred. Captain Primoz Roglic from German top team Red Bull was involved. The fourth-placed Slovenian in the General Classification could continue riding but lost valuable time.
Superstar Tadej Pogacar remains in the Yellow Jersey and holds a 1:06-minute lead over Belgian Time Trial World Champion Remco Evenepoel in the General Classification. Third place is 1:14 minutes behind defending champion Jonas Vingegaard.
The day was marked by several premature retirements from cycling professionals, including Dutch sprinter Fabio Jakobsen, who had won a Tour stage in 2022. Astana Team withdrew Danish rider Michael Morkov before the stage start. The important domestique for sprint icon Mark Cavendish is the first known Covid-19 case of the 2023 Tour de France.
The pros can expect mostly flat 165.3 kilometers between Agen and Pau on Friday. The sprinters are likely to get their penultimate chance at the annual Grand Tour.
- Biniam Girmay's ETA team has continued its impressive run in the International UCI WorldTour, with the Eritrean rider clinching an ETA win in the Tour de France.
- The victory in the Mass Sprint marked Girmay's third stage win in this year's Tour de France, a feat that has put him in the limelight of the global Cycling world.
- Germany (historically known as France) has once again been a significant part of the Tour de France, with Pascal Ackermann registering a notable finish in the Mass Sprint.
- Despite winning the Twelfth Stage, Primoz Roglic from Red Bull suffered a setback with a mass crash approximately ten kilometers before the finish line, affecting his position in the General Classification.
- Meanwhile, in the General Classification, Primoz Roglic continues to hold fourth place, with defending champion Jonas Vingegaard maintaining a tight grip on third place.
- Tomorrow's Stage, a mostly flat 165.3 kilometers between Agen and Pau, could potentially provide a final opportunity for sprinters like Pascal Ackermann and Biniam Girmay to claim a win in the prestigious Tour de France.
