Girmay wins Tour de France stage 12, Pogacar remains in yellow

Eritrean Biniam Girmay edged out Wout van Aert to win the 12th stage of the Tour de France on Thursday while Slovenian rider Tadej Pogacar of the UAE Team Emirates retained the overall leader's yellow jersey.

Girmay, who became the first Black African to triumph on the Tour when he won the third stage, sealed his third win at this year's race on a day for the sprinters.

"We didn't want to take any risks today," Intermarche-Wanty rider Girmay, 24, said after the 204 km ride from Aurillac to Villeneuve-Sur-Lot.

"But in the end, when everyone came together, I felt super good, and I said on the radio, 'give me support and I can deliver'. So I'm just super happy."

Girmay out-paced Belgium's Van Aert and Arnaud Demare although Demare was later relegated to the back of the sprint bunch meaning Pascal Ackermann (Israel-Premier Tech) was promoted to the podium.

His win consolidated his hold on the green jersey with a 107-point advantage over Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck).

"From now on I will continue full focus on sprinting and the green jersey. As soon as I started wearing (it), I felt the fastest. If I have the right moment and the right position, I can prove myself in the sprints," he said.

It was disappointing result for Van Aert who said he got "boxed between Demare and the barrier".

"I should look back at what happened. Anyway, I had to relaunch my sprint - and I still came close to the victory. If I didn't have to stop pedalling I would have had a good chance," Van Aert said.