Fortunately for Girmay, he was not injured in the crash and that was the last sprint to the finish left in the race. Only three intermediate sprints (IS) remained for Philipsen to defend the Škoda Green Jersey he had won last year. It was also fortunate for the green jersey leader, who is a better climber than his rival, that the stage 17 IS came on a gentle ascent. He won the sprint easily, adding a point to his lead.
That left two intermediate sprints for sprinters remaining in the race, with the stage 20 IS coming midway up the category 1 Col de la Coliane (7.5km @ 6.9%), not long after the category 1 Col du Turini (20.8km @ 5,8%), therefore not intended or even possible for sprinters. As a result, if Philipsen wanted to take over the Škoda Green Jersey lead, he had to win or place second on both the stage 18 and stage 19 intermediate sprints, and hope that Girmay did not take any points.
However, on stage 18, all the IS points were taken by a 36-rider breakaway, effectively ending the Belgian’s chances for a green repeat. As it turned out, a big breakaway also took all the points on stage 19, with Bryan Coquard crossing the line first, securing his third place in the points classification standings.
All Girmay now has to do is finish the race to claim a historic victory as the first Black rider to win a jersey in any Grand Tour race – and not just any race, the grandest of the three, the Tour de France.
Of course, the 24-year-old Intermarché-Wanty leader is conscious of the historic significance of his marvelous performance in this Tour. “I just want to thank my family, my wife, all the Eritreans, and Africans,” a weeping Girmay told journalists on July 1, after becoming the first Black African to win a Tour de France stage. “We must be proud; now we are part of the big races; now it’s our moment, our time. I want to say congrats to my whole team because we didn’t have a victory yet [in the Tour de France]. But now is our moment, and I’m super happy. This win is for all Africans.”
He was more activist after winning his third Tour stage 10 days later. “This year I’m the only Black rider in the peloton,” he said. “It’s not nice, to be honest, so I wish there were more Black riders in the peloton.” He added that by having greater diversity, road racing could finally become a true global sport and that he was “super happy to show and deliver so that cycling can be more global.”
Girmay currently leads Philipsen by 387 points to 354, which will almost certainly be the final rankings. His final margin is small, but it will make a big noise.
