Veni, vidi, Bini: Girmay once again first on challenging Tour finish, Philipsen and De Lie fall short

Biniam Girmay (Intermarché-Wanty) has managed to claim victory in the eighth stage of the Tour de France. He emerged as the best after the sprint from a reduced peloton, which had chased lone escapee Jonas Abrahamsen (Uno-X) throughout the day under rainy conditions. Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck) finished second, ahead of Lotto-Dstny's Arnaud De Lie.

Before the stage, the main question was whether it would favor attackers or (strong) sprinters. In the latter category, we already had one less man, as Mads Pedersen of Lidl-Trek decided not to start. The former world champion was still suffering from the aftermath of his crash earlier in the week and could not continue.

At the start, the leader of the German-American team explained his decision. His shoulder pain was worsening, necessitating further examinations, especially with an eye on his next major goal of the summer: the road race at the Olympic Games in Paris, where he aims for gold. Therefore, greenery was no longer an option, which was "good" news for Girmay and his team.

Van der Poel and Van Gils impose dominance on breakaways

After a nervous neutralization, the riders were waved off around 1:20 PM, with three immediately accelerating ahead of the race director's car. The EF duo Stefan Bissegger and Neilson Powless took control, followed by polka dot jersey wearer Abrahamsen, and thus the breakaway was established very early on. In the peloton, the pace quickly spread out, sealing their fate.

Up front, Bissegger and Powless sensed the situation with Abrahamsen and decided to wait for some teammates wanting to bridge across: Ben Healy and Alberto Bettiol launched an attack in the hilly zone from the peloton, which Mathieu van der Poel of Alpecin-Deceuninck and Maxim Van Gils (Lotto-Dstny) didn't approve of. They did this in support of their sprinters Philipsen and De Lie.

Meanwhile, the EF Education-EasyPost duo decided to let Abrahamsen ride ahead, allowing him to collect mountain points uncontested. There was no separation behind, and thus the men of Jonathan Vaughters undermined their own efforts both at the front and back, a matter Abrahamsen either ignored or perhaps welcomed.

This led to a somewhat peculiar situation where many dropped sprinters returned "for free," while Abrahamsen quickly built a six-minute gap from the main group. This signaled to Cofidis, Intermarché-Wanty, Alpecin-Deceuninck, and Lotto-Dstny to join forces, understanding they couldn't let the Scandinavian ride freely up ahead.

Abrahamsen impresses, while compatriot dies in Austria after a fall

And so this stage progressed steadily, with the solitary Norwegian's flame slowly dimming. A crash by Warren Barguil (dsm-firmenich PostNL) and a few punctures provided some incidents, but that was honestly the extent of the action in the midsection of this classic transitional stage in the Tour de France.

While Abrahamsen battled the peloton in the Tour de France, the Norwegian was unaware of the tragedy unfolding in the Tour of Austria. His 25-year-old compatriot Andre Drege, who finished just one place ahead of him in the national championship two weeks ago, lost his life there after a crash in the descent of the Grossglockner. Through this way: all strength to Drege's family and friends.

Unaware that a colleague from Norway had just lost his life, Abrahamsen continued to power through the now wet French roads. In the peloton, however, nervousness was on the rise as dark clouds gathered over France. Suddenly, many riders were seen trailing behind the peloton, including contenders like Michael Matthews and Magnus Cort. This led to the gap with Abrahamsen being closed, although he received compliments for his day in the breakaway.

Wout van Aert took control at that stage and ensured that Abrahamsen was caught with fifteen kilometers to go. After that, attention turned gradually to the final sprint, with the GC contenders also eager to stay at the front. EF Education-EasyPost intervened to make the race harder, supporting sprinter Marijn van den Berg.

Healy applied pressure with a strong acceleration that put some sprinters, including Fabio Jakobsen, under strain. As they approached the uphill final kilometer, surviving riders positioned themselves, and miraculously, the peloton stayed upright despite some touching incidents. Ultimately, the team that managed to get it all together was Decathlon AG2R.

Intermarché-Wanty took over with determination in support of Girmay, but in turn, Cofidis emerged at the front. The sprint was eventually initiated by Coquard, after which Philipsen seemed to take charge. At the finish line, however, Girmay timed his sprint as perfectly as possible, while De Lie couldn't fully launch his sprint.

Results stage 8 Tour de France 2024

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