🎥 Lewis Askey continues after lead-out for Girmay — and pays the price after a shove from De Lie

NSN impressed in the final kilometres by delivering Girmay with almost their entire team deep into the finale. While many other sprinters were isolated — or had just one last helper left — Girmay could still count on three teammates inside the final kilometre. Askey was one of them.

After finishing his pull, the fast Brit did start to ease off, but where lead-out men often sit up completely and try to stay out of everyone’s way, Askey remained in the centre of the peloton and kept his momentum.

Why? Perhaps he was still hoping to ride for a result himself — and pick up some extra UCI points for NSN. Or perhaps he was still there to make it harder for rivals to immediately latch onto Girmay’s wheel. Either way, neither is against the rules.

Askey’s decision to keep rolling did, however, lead to a dangerous moment with Arnaud De Lie, who was sprinting for Lotto–Intermarché. In the chaos, the NSN rider found himself squeezed between Pascal Ackermann (Jayco AlUla) and De Lie, with the Belgian widening his line.

It should be said that Matteo Moschetti (Pinarello–Q36.5) came flying up the inside by the barriers at that moment, prompting De Lie to make a small move left. But in the incident, Askey was almost barged off his bike — somehow staying upright.

He did have to unclip his right foot and came to a complete standstill, eventually dropping back to 31st on the day. De Lie finished sixth, with Ackermann eighth. Speaking about the incident after the finish to Eurosport, De Lie said: “Askey kept riding in the way, it was him or me. I was lucky I could stay on the bike.”