COLOMBEY-LES-DEUX-EGLISES, France >> Eritrea’s Biniam Girmay won a second stage at the Tour de France when he edged a closing sprint on Saturday.

Two-time Tour champion Tadej Pogacar kept the yellow jersey.

Girmay, who became the first Black rider to win a Tour stage this week, timed his effort perfectly at the end of the long stretch of road leading to the finish of Stage 8.

The false flat finish suited his style, and he made the most of it to beat Jasper Philipsen and Arnaud De Lie, extending his lead at the top of the ranking for the best sprinter.

The stage finished in Colombey-les-Deux-Eglises, the home and final resting place of the late Charles de Gaulle. The former French President launched the French Resistance from a base in London and along with the Allies liberated France from the Nazis in 1944.

There was no major change in the general classification. Pogacar kept a 33-second lead over Remco Evenepoel, and two-time defending champion Jonas Vingegaard was in third place, lagging 1:15 behind.

The stage started with a high-octane pace as three riders — Neilson Powless, Stefan Bissegger, Jonas Abrahamsen — immediately jumped out of the peloton to open a 30-second gap at the front.

Despite having two men in the breakaway, EF Education-EasyPost riders later attacked from the main pack on hilly, wet roads and a group including Mark Cavendish got dropped.

Chasing points in the best climber’s classification, Abrahamsen went solo to the top of the Cote de Vitteaux and added more points on the slopes of the Cote de Verrey-sous-Salmaise and the following hills to further cement his polka dot jersey.

Helped by his teammates, Cavendish later merged with the yellow jersey group while Bissegger and Powless sat up. Meanwhile, Abrahamsen kept pushing hard on the pedals to increase his lead.