Biniam Girmay injured in late Tour de France crash
A late crash in rainy conditions in Valence eliminated a number of sprinters from contention on stage 17, with Biniam Girmay the worst affected. The Eritrean finished the stage but seemed to have injured a wrist in the incident. Intermarché-Wanty later confirmed that he had sustained no fractures in the crash.
The rain-soaked finale of stage 17 of the Tour de France in Valence was marred by a crash with a kilometre to go that eliminated Biniam Girmay (Intermarché-Wanty), Tim Merlier (Soudal-QuickStep) and Dylan Groenewegen (Jayco-Alula) from contention for the win.
Pavel Bittner (Picnic-PostNL) was the first rider to come down in the slippery conditions and five others crashed with him, including Girmay, who slid into the barriers on the roadside.
Merlier somehow managed to avoid falling despite being right behind the crash, though the European champion was forced to come to a stop and he missed out on contesting the sprint.
Groenewegen and Kaden Groves (Alpecin-Deceuninck) were also eliminated from sprint contention after they were caught up behind the incident.
Girmay was able to remount and ride to the finish, though the Eritrean appeared to be nursing an injury to his right forearm as he crossed the line. An x-ray taken after the stage confirmed that he had sustained no fractures in the crash.
"Following their crashes in Tour de France stage 17, Louis Barré, Biniam Girmay and Hugo Page received immediate medical attention," read a statement from Intermarché-Wanty. "They sustained superficial injuries; no fractures or serious injuries were detected. However, given the impact suffered by Girmay in particular, we are closely monitoring his recovery."
The crash left a group of 13 riders in front in the final kilometre to fight it out for stage honours, with green jersey Jonathan Milan (Lidl-Trek) powering to victory ahead of Jordi Meeus (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) and Tobias Lund Andresen (Picnic-PostNL).
The rest of the peloton was caught behind the crash, though it appears none of the general classification contenders were involved in the incident, which took place well inside the 5km safety zone on Wednesday’s stage.
Yellow jersey Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) and closest challenger Jonas Vingegaard (Visma | Lease a Bike) rolled home safely in the main peloton.
