The Eritrean Biniam Girmay won the third stage of the Tour de France in a sprint finish on Monday as Mark Cavendish missed out on his first opportunity to break Eddy Merckx’s record for career stage victories.
Biniam, who became the first black African rider to win a stage on the Tour de France, timed his effort to perfection to beat the Colombian Fernando Gaviria and the Belgian Arnaud de Lie, who finished second and third respectively as the stage ended in Turin.
Cavendish, who won his 34th stage in Carcasonne in 2021, needs one more victory to move past Merckx and hold the record outright.
The pre-stage favourite Jasper Philipsen, of Belgium, was involved in a huge crash with 2.3km left of the stage.
Ecuador’s Richard Carapaz took the overall leader’s yellow jersey from Tadej Pogacar.
Jeremy Whittle’s report to follow