This Friday, July 19th, the green jersey wearer Biniam Girmay and his teammates successfully navigated the challenging 19th stage of the Tour de France. It was a demanding day in the Alps with two Hors-Catégorie climbs, including a passage at nearly 3,000 meters above sea level, and a summit finish at Isola 2000.
South African Louis Meintjes, 21st in the stage and long present in the yellow jersey group, moved up one place in the general classification and now occupies the 19th position.
The points distributed at the day’s intermediate sprint, located before the first difficulty after 20 kilometers of racing, were taken by the breakaway riders. Consequently, Biniam Girmay’s mission was to finish this stage within the time limit.
The Eritrean rider, holder of the green jersey for 15 days, approaches the final road stage this Saturday as the leader of the points classification with a 33-point advantage.
Biniam Girmay:
“Now, I’m counting every remaining kilometer to the final finish to motivate myself. Nice has never seemed so far away as today. It was a very difficult stage, these last two days have been physically demanding, and we had to survive. Fortunately, I can always count on the unconditional support of my teammates, together we found a good group. I’m so happy to wear this green jersey for two weeks and I really want to keep it until the end. I’m looking forward to these last two days.”
Points Classification:
1. Biniam Girmay: 387
2. Jasper Philipsen: 354