Biniam Girmay (NSN) dove into Tim Merlier's slipstream as the Belgian surged past his rivals in the final 500 metres of the sprint in Bergerac, but Girmay could do little but follow him over the line to take second place on stage 8 of the Tour de France. Girmay admitted that the Soudal-QuickStep sprinter is the fastest finisher at the 2026 Tour.
Girmay moved up from around tenth place as the sprint began, finishing behind Merlier, with Olav Kooij (Decathlon CMS CGM) third and Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Premier Tech) fourth after being swamped from behind.
Girmay clashed with a rider from Uno-X Mobility, damaging his handlebars but still fearlessly contested the sprint.
"We took the last 500 metres so fast. It was the last moment, and nobody braked," Girmay told Eurosport of the last corner fight for position and then the 72kph sprint to the line.
"A guy from Uno-X went into my handlebars. Luckily I saved it, but I lost a lot of speed. That cost me…"
Asked if he could have won the stage, Girmay conceded that Merlier is on fire.
"If I see how I sprinted, it's crazy, so I don't know if I'd have won. Merlier was strong, he's fast for the moment," the Eritrean rider said.
Girmay's only consolation came in the battle for the green points jersey.
He scored 50 points for his second place and is now just 25 points behind Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek), who leads the sprint competition with a total of 228 points. Merlier's stage wins have lifted him to second on 213 points, and Girmay has 203 points.
For now, Girmay is not counting points; he has other goals. "I want to win a stage, that's my first priority," he said bluntly. "I want to win a stage, then after that there's the green jersey."
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