@ Le Tour
At the end of the longest stage of this year’s Tour de France, it was Biniam Girmay (Intermarche – Wanty) who grabbed the win, beating Fernando Gaviria (Movistar Team) to the line in front of the Italian fans. In the frantic sprint in Turin Girmay was too strong for his rivals, just getting the better of Gaviria, with Arnaud de Lie (Lotto-dstny) in third place and Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) and Dylan Groenewegen (Jayco-AlUla) completing the top five. Meanwhile, it was an amazing moment for Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost) as he took control of the Yellow Jersey for the first time in his career.
No breakaway
175 riders took the start on the third day of the 2024 Tour de France with the route covering 230.8 kilometers between Piacenza and Turin, making it the longest in this year’s race. The prospect of a doomed breakaway which would surely be controlled by the sprinters’ teams deterred any serious potential attackers. There was a strange, short excursion from the peloton for five kilometers by Jonas Abrahamsen and Johannes Kulset (Uno-X) early in the stage, but they quickly re-joined the group. The peloton was still all together as the riders completed the first hour of racing at an average speed of 37.3 km/h.
Racking up points
The race visited Tortona (km 70.8) paying homage to one of Italian cycling’s true greats and on the Côte de Tortone – Fausto Coppi (named after the ‘Campionissimo’) Jonas Abrahamsen (Uno-X) added another point to his Mountain classification tally, whilst wearing the green jersey. At the Alexandria intermediate sprint (km 94.3) Abrahamsen added nine more green jersey points in seventh place, with the sprint won by Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek), just ahead of Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck) as the fast men tested their legs for the finish in Turin.
Moments in the spotlight
For a local rider Matteo Sobrero (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe), there was a special little win as he went over the Côte de Barbaresco (Cat 4, km 156.1) in first place, with his entire family and fan club there to enjoy the moment. TotalEnergies rider Fabian Grellier accelerated with 66 kilometers to go and left the peloton, going over the Côte de Sommariva Perno (Cat 4, km 181.4) alone with a 40″ advantage at the top of the climb. Grellier was later reeled back in by the bunch with 28km to go, but his efforts were rewarded with the Most Combative Rider prize.
An exciting finish in Turin
The fight for stage victory went down to an anticipated bunch sprint at the finish in front of a big crowd in Turin, with Girmay crossing the line first, ahead of Gaviria, De Lie, Pedersen and Groenewegen. There was drama with a big crash 2.3 km from the finish line that affected a dozen riders, among them, the stage favorite Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck), whilst his teammate Van der Poel was the victim of costly, late puncture which meant he lost contact with the bunch. Richard Carapaz’s finishing position on the stage puts him in the Yellow Jersey for the first time in a storied career to make it an incredible day for him and the EF Education-EasyPost team. Jonas Abrahamsen meanwhile, maintains ownership of the polka dot and green jerseys.
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