Biniam Girmay was considered a possible favorite for victory in the 2nd stage of the Tour de France. However, the Eritrean finished a large distance to the day winner Mathieu van der Poel. His team is worried about the knee.
The profile on the 2nd stage of the Tour de France was made for an attack by sprint star Biniam Girmay. Therefore, his team Intermarché-Wanty took over the leadership work in the peloton for some phases.
But even before the final sprint, the 25-year-old had to tear down because he suffered from the knee pain.
“We are worried. That is now a top priority,” said sports director Aike Visbeek after the stage. GIRMAY “slipped away with the rear wheel ten kilometers before the finish line and hit his knee at the stem,” said Visbeek. “From then on it was over. Now we have to take care of the damage. Hopefully everything is fine and he’s back in the race tomorrow. It’s a pretty sad day,” said the Dutchman.
Trouble after intermediate sprint duel
With a damaged knee, Girmay reached the finish line as 107th and 5:25 minutes behind.
Girmay was already in focus at the intermediate sprint. After the fight and the points, Jonathan Milan (Lidl-Trek) was suddenly pissed off. He screamed Girmay and gestured. Apparently he felt disadvantaged in the position of the position. In the target area, however, the dispute was quickly settled.
“He just apologized, so everything is fine,” said Visbeek. The team posted a video of the handshak on social media. “We appreciate this, let’s go.”
Video: This is the German Tour hope Lipowitz
Mathieu van der Poel grabbed the stage victory and the yellow jersey.
In a gripping final after 209.1 km between Lauwin-Planque and Boulogne-sur-Mer on the English Channel, the ex-world champion from Team Alpecin-Deceuninck prevailed in front of the incumbent world champion and tour defender Tadej Pogacar (Slovenia/UAE Team Emirates XRG). Third was the two -time tour winner Jonas Vingegaard (Denmark/Visma – Lease A Bike).