On Saturday, July 6, five days after his historic Tour de France victory in the streets of Turin, Biniam Girmay claimed his second victory of the Tour on stage eight.
Wearing his green jersey, Biniam Girmay triumphed in a sprint on the uphill finish in Colombey-les-Deux-Églises. The result of a remarkable team effort, started by Kobe Goossens and Georg Zimmermann in the first part of the race, who controlled the attacks and then chased after breakaway Jonas Abrahamsen.
In the intermediate sprint, Biniam Girmay won the sprint and took 17 points, gaining even more ground on his rivals, thanks in particular to Gerben Thijssen, who got in ahead of Jasper Philipsen. Intermarché-Wanty then concentrated their efforts to tackle the final kilometers together.
It was the Belgian team’s sprint train, comprising Hugo Page, Laurenz Rex and Mike Teunissen, which approached the flamme rouge in the lead. Biniam Girmay, ideally placed, finished the job on the uphill finish, powering ahead of Jasper Philipsen and Arnaud De Lie to give Intermarché-Wanty a second Tour de France victory.
The Eritrean rider is the eighth Grand Tour winner for Jean-François Bourlart’s team. With eleven wins to his name, Girmay has become the most prolific rider in the Belgian team’s history. In the points classification, Biniam Girmay extends his lead to 216 points, 88 points ahead of his runner-up.
Biniam Girmay :
« What can I say? It’s incredible to win two stages of the Tour de France. I dedicate this victory to my parents. They’ve always believed in me and supported me so that I could become a professional cyclist. I’m so proud to win with the green jersey. My team took me to perfection, and I’m proud of my team-mates. I felt my legs were heavy, because it was a demanding day, but I told myself that my rivals had to suffer just as much. I followed my sprint train until the final kilometres, where I found myself in the perfect wheel and was able to sprint to victory on this uphill finish, which suited me. »
Points classification :
1. Biniam Girmay: 216 points
2. Jasper Philipsen: 128 points
3. Jonas Abrahamsen: 107 points
