Tour de France 2024

Longest stage to Girmay ++ Carapaz in yellow again!

Biniam Girmay(Bild: Associated Press)

The longest stage of the 111th Tour de France over 231 kilometers from Piacenza to Turin went to Biniam Girmay on Monday in the sprint of the field, which was decimated by a crash!

The 24-year-old from Eritrea secured the first Tour victory for an African. Before the first battle in the high mountains, the yellow jersey changed hands from Tadej Pogacar to the Olympic champion Richard Carapaz, who is in front due to his better overall position.

Several riders crash 2.3 kilometers before the finish
On the third section, the entire peloton took a breather after the tough start and before the first mountain stage. There were no breakaway attempts worth mentioning, the peloton mostly rolled along in a closed group. In the finale, however, things got hectic as expected. Due to the special constellation for the overall lead with four riders with the same time, the classification teams also got involved at the front. Several riders promptly crashed 2.3 kilometers before the finish, which held many of them up decisively.

Girmay was one of the few top sprinters to come through unscathed and, two years after his stage win at the Giro d'Italia, he also struck at the Tour. He won ahead of Fernando Gaviria (COL/Movistar) and Arnaud de Lie (BEL/Lotto). The Ecuadorian Carapaz also escaped the chaos before the finish and came in 14th on the stage. This means that the 2019 Giro winner from the EF racing team can wear the yellow jersey for the first time on Tuesday. He continues to lead at the same time ahead of Pogacar, Remco Evenepoel and defending champion Jonas Vingegaard. Felix Gall is 21 seconds back in 18th place.

This ranking could change fundamentally on Tuesday. The fourth stage leads from Pinerolo over 140 kilometers and 3900 vertical meters to Valloire in France. With Sestriere (2040 m) and the Col du Galibier (2630 m) 20 kilometers before the finish, the first long climbs await, although they are not particularly steep.

The result of stage 3:
1st Biniam Girmay (ERI) Intermarche 5:26:48 hrs.
2nd Fernando Gaviria (COL) Movistar
3rd Arnaud de Lie (BEL) Lotto - all same time
Further:
86th Gregor Mühlberger (AUT) Movistar
94th Felix Gall (AUT) Decathlon
138th Marco Haller (AUT) Red Bull - all same time

The standings in the overall standings:
1st Richard Carapaz (ECU) EF 15:20:18 hrs.
2nd Tadej Pogacar (SLO) UAE
3rd Remco Evenepoel (BEL) Soudal
4th Jonas Vingegaard (DEN) Visma - all same time
Further:
18th Felix Gall (AUT) Decathlon +0:21
111th Gregor Mühlberger (AUT) Movistar +44:59
148th Marco Haller (AUT) Red Bull +47:11