Date: Tuesday, 16 July 2024
No points for Intermarché-Wanty rider as Philipsen threatens points lead
Tour de France points classification leader Biniam Girmay (Intermarché-Wanty) crashed in a roundabout in the final kilometre of stage 16 in what was one of the last opportunities for the sprinters in this year's race.
Girmay's lead in the green jersey competition fell to just 32 points as Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck) won his third stage of the race in Nîmes.
Before Tuesday's stage, Girmay's lead was a far more comfortable 96 points, but Philipsen beat him in the intermediate sprint to gain four points more than the Eritrean and claimed 50 points for the stage win.
Philipsen expressed his concern for Girmay after hearing about the crash and said he wasn't sure he could overtake the points classification leader.
"He's climbing really well. I just hope he's OK after the crash, because he doesn't deserve yet to lose like this," Philipsen said.
