"I saw Philipsen hit Coquard right in front of me" - Biniam Girmay saddened by sudden abandon of his rival
Cycling
A mostly peaceful ride in Monday's stage 3 of the Tour de France was broken by the crash of Jasper Philipsen at the intermediate sprint with 60 kilometers to go. Biniam Girmay was right behind the Belgian when the incident occured.
And that was not the end of it. The arrival to Dunkeque saw two major crashes occur very close to the sprinter of Intermarché - Wanty, who luckily wasn't caught up in either of them. "I'm super happy I made it through safely," the Eritrean told Cyclism'Actu after the hectic finale.
"Every time I hear damage behind me, my heart goes up to 300," Girmay admits. "I feel super sorry for the guys who fell, including Philipsen. It's not nice to see someone fall, especially if it's at high speed. I thought if I finished safe, I'd be happy. In an instant, I was almost ready to stop pedaling because it's super hard."
The crash and subsequent abandon of Jasper Philipsen at the intermediate sprint came completely out of blue. "I don't even know what happened at the intermediate sprint, I saw Philipsen hit Coquard right in front of me and when I saw him fall, I felt super bad for him, he's an incredible rider and to see him fall and abandon the Tour de France... I really feel sorry for him."
Ondrej ZhasilCycling Journalist
Ondřej Zhasil is a cycling journalist at CyclingUpToDate and has been part of the team since 2023. He is based in Ostrava, the third-largest city in the Czech Republic, and covers professional cycling across the main UCI competitions, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España. A key focus of his work is startlist analysis and pre-race coverage, where he examines team selections, rider line-ups, and tactical scenarios ahead of major events.
Alongside WorldTour coverage, Ondřej has developed specific expertise in junior cycling and in racing across East Asia, including competitions in China and Japan. He also maintains a broad working knowledge of other disciplines and levels, including cyclocross, while continuing to expand his understanding of mountain bike racing.
Ondřej holds a bachelor’s degree in Mathematics and Physics, which supports his analytical, data-driven approach to performance and race analysis. In his reporting, he regularly uses ProCyclingStats for results, statistics, and historical context. He places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles promptly when new, verified information becomes available.
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- Im not copmaring him to jonas palmares...but current level of power and again like you even pointed out 19sec difference and on other ocassions del toro dropping him. Its evidently their close and based on both their different trajectory its self explanatory...where we are next year.And Del Toro didnt struggle if getting a podium in his first TDF at 22 year old is struggling you sure dont know how to be objective haha. But have a good weekend this is so dumb to discuss as its not even a discussin in reality as facts speak for themselves of what were actually speaking of - and self explanatory.miguel13-11-2026
- fingers crossed. my son has a poster of wout and mathieu battling each other at the beach at ostend up in his room. would be great to see them again there!Ketterechts13-11-2026
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Rafionain-Glas13-11-2026 - When Thomas gets the bullet from INEOS he can get a job as a comedian.
Senna196013-11-2026 - Right on. The more the merrier.Occam13-11-2026
- Remember, Del Toro struggled in this Tour. He is great, no doubt about that, but comparing him to a four time gt winner is absurd at this point. He has the potential. We'll have to see how he develops.awp13-11-2026
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Front24213-11-2026 - Exactly you said it urslf - he outclimbed del toro by 19 sec. 19SEC and you say hes alot better than del toro still lol? And can also do the same where del toro did that to jonas even and del toro dauphine numbers better than jonas all year so why this hard whats the issue its super easy stuff - del toro wasnt that before. Then factor in both their trajectory the last years and the answer is self explonatory like i said. Nothing against jonas like many do but the typing is no the wall and so stupidly easy as its so self explanatory now. Have a good daymiguel13-11-2026
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