Green with rage. Eritrean Biniam Girmay experienced the worst-case scenario this Tuesday between Gruissan (Aude) and Nîmes (Gard), during the 16th stage of the Tour de France. While the green jersey seemed firmly on his shoulders and he would be the first African to win it at the end, the star rider of the Intermarché-Wanty team lost big 1,300 m from the line. Having crashed into a bend, Girmay found himself on the ground and was unable to compete in the sprint.
As if in a well-cast curse, it was his biggest opponent, Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin – Deceuninck) who won on the line. The Belgian thus equalized at three stage wins each and above all grabbed the fifty points of victory. At the start of Gruissan, Girmay had an 86-point lead over his rival. In the Gard, his lead fell to 32. This completely rekindled the suspense for the green jersey. Especially since Girmay finished the stage with a broken body and soul. He also went to undergo tests in the medical truck set up near the finish. This Tuesday evening, he nevertheless assured X that “everything was fine despite some minor injuries”.
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