Wærenskjold vs. Girmay: Sparks fly in the sprint

Stage 8 of the 2026 Tour de France not only provided a thrilling sprint to Bergerac, but also sparked heated controversy that is already heating up the cycling world. Biniam Girmay received an official warning from the race officials for intimidation during the sprint , but according to Søren Wærenskjold of Uno-X Mobility, the NSN rider deserved much more: a full-blown relegation in the overall standings.

The helicopter footage is telling: on the final bend, Girmay appears to forcefully push Wærenskjold toward the barriers, forcing him to slow abruptly to avoid a potentially dangerous crash. Wærenskjold thus lost his rhythm and crossed the finish line in eleventh place, while Girmay, hooking onto the wheel of winner Tim Merlier (Soudal-QuickStep), still managed to finish second.

The Norwegian did not hide his anger to the microphones of Norwegian television TV2 : " He pushed me all the way around the corner, it was really annoying. He hit me several times and drove like a complete idiot ." And again : "I was too far back and lost all speed in the corner. I think the incident needs to be looked into. He drove like an idiot the whole time. It's desperate driving, and he absolutely doesn't deserve to finish ahead of me. This makes me angry. It was too much. "

On the other side, Girmay offered his version of events to Eurosport, claiming he had done nothing wrong: according to the Eritrean, it was a Uno-X rider who crashed into his handlebars, causing him to lose preciously gained speed. This version, obviously, contradicts Wærenskjold's.