Biniam Girmay made history in Turin to become the first black African to win a Tour de France stage, following a hectic finale on stage three of the race.
The Eritrean Intermarché-Wanty rider crossed the line ahead of a world-beating line-up of fast finishers, including Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) and Fabio Jakobsen (dsm-firmenich PostNL), though it was Fernando Gaviria (Movistar) and debutant Arnaud De Lie (Lotto-Dstny) who came in second and third.
There was also a change at the top of the GC, with former Giro d'Italia winner Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost) moving from fourth place into yellow, though still at the same time as Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates).
In an emotional post-race interview, Girmay explained that he hadn't even been his team's protected rider on the day.
"Normally the plan would be to give a leadout for Gerben Thijssen," he said, "and if it's the circumstances… I need to try for myself. We did a really good job but in the last kilometre I lost the wheel of Gerben and I just rode for myself."
Wiping away tears, he thanked God and his family, and "all the Eritreans and Africans – we must be proud," he said. "Now we're really part of the big races, it's our moment, it's our time. It's for all Africa."
He added: "I never dreamed of being part of the Tour de France, but now, I can believe it. To win at the Tour de France in a big bunch sprint for me was unbelievable."
Girmay also became the first black African to win a Grand Tour stage in 2022, when he won a Giro d'Italia stage, and with the Tour de France still in Italy this was another Italian win of sorts for him. The stage took riders 230.8km east to west across northern Italy, ending near the French border in the Italian city.
The finale was characterised by straight roads, multiple roundabouts and numerous teams ultimately galloping toward the line, all confident they could take the win.
There was also a nasty looking crash just inside the three-kilometre mark, but all riders finished the stage.
Fans of Mark Cavendish (Astana Qazaqstan) holding out for a record breaking 35th win will have to wait another day – he came in 113th after being baulked by the crash.
How it happened
After the hardest Tour de France start in modern history, it was hardly surprising that the peloton seemed in no mood for any leg-busting antics on today's largely flat parcours – flat but also long; the longest stage of the race, in fact.
Fans and riders waited patiently for the breakaway to happen but none was forthcoming, and it looked as though we might be looking at a day without a single escape to speak of.
That is until finally – with 160km ridden – Frenchman Fabien Grellier (TotalEnergies) sneaked away on a small climb. Perhaps he wanted to give the team some airtime, perhaps he was just bored. Either way his move was undoubtedly doomed to failure with the sprinters and their teams chomping at the bit and eager for their opportunity.
He was allowed his fun for 20km or so, before the bunch stepped up the urgency and quickly reeled him in, with 28km remaining.
The final 10km into the city of Turin gave with one hand and took with the other – the wide, flat roads were peppered with roundabouts that saw at least one victim in the form of Soudal-Quick Step rider Casper Pedersen, who ended up finishing last, more than nine minutes down.
With the roundabouts done with, the wide roads of the final few kilometres allowed teams and sprinters eager for their first bite of the cherry to gather at the front – a charging mass spread across the road.
After that it was just left to the sprinters themselves – and most pertinently Biniam Girmay – to do their thing.
Results
Tour de France 2024, Stage 3: Piacenza > Turin
1. Biniam Girmay (Eri) Intermarché-Wanty, in 5:25:48
2. Fernando Gaviria (Col) Movistar
3. Arnaud De Lie (Bel) Lotto-Dstny
4. Mads Pedersen (Den) Lidl-Trek
5. Dylan Groenewegen (Ned) Jayco-AlUla
6. Phil Bauhaus (Ger) Bahrain Victorious
7. Fabio Jakobsen (Ned) dsm-firmenich PostNL
8. Davide Ballerini (Ita) Astana Qazaqstan
9. Sam Bennett (Irl) Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale
10. Bryan Coquard (Fra) Cofidis, all at same time
General Classification after Stage 3
1. Richard Carapaz (ECU) EF Education-EasyPost, in 15:20:18
2. Tadej Pogačar (SLO) UAE Team Emirates
3. Remco Evenepoel (BEL) Soudal Quick-Step
4. Jonas Vingegaard (DEN) Visma-Lease a Bike, all same time
5. Romain Bardet (FRA) DSM-Firmenich-PostNL +6sec
6. Pello Bilbao (ESP) Bahrain Victorious, +21sec
7. Guillaume Martin (FRA) Cofidis
8. Egan Bernal (COL) INEOS Grenadiers
9. Jai Hindley (AUS) Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe
10. Alexandr Vlasov (RUS) Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe, all at same time.
'Follow and see': Jonas Vingegaard’s grand plan for Col du Galibier as Tour de France heads for the Alps
Giant subsidiary bids $20 million for Stages Cycling assets
