For Biniam Guillemay, the sprint win on stage 7 of the Tour de France was his third chance, but Intermarché Circus Wanty was already on the podium, taking third place.

The technical contest into Bordeaux after 170km pushed Gilmay into the barrier as winner Jasper Philipsen crossed the road in the final dash. Nevertheless, the 23-year-old Gilmey managed to maintain enough momentum to add a Tour de France podium finish to his Grand Tour record, which includes first and second places at the 2022 Giro d'Italia.

"What made me happy today is that I proved that I am here to win a stage at the Tour de France," said May. And more importantly, I made it to the finish line in one piece."

"In a dangerous sprint like today, it's important that everyone follows the rules and sprints in a straight line. When I hit my foot on the barrier I really felt the danger. It could have ended up being a nightmare for me and for all the riders behind me."

Both Astana-Kazakstan and Intermarche-Circus-Wanty protested against Philipsen's deviation in the final sprint. However, unlike Alpecin-Desseuninck's Mathieu van der Pol, who was fined on stage 4 for deviating from the line in a sprint win by Philipsen and hitting Gilmay in the process, no penalties were imposed.

"Anyway, I'm proud to have my first podium in my first Tour de France," said van der Pol. Anyway, I'm proud to be on the podium for the first time in my first Tour de France." Dion Smith and the rest of the team did a great job in the last few kilometers."

For Gil May, this spring has been a spring of challenges: after winning the 2022 race, he finished 97th in Ghent-Wevelgem and suffered a concussion in a crash at the Tour de Flanders, forcing him to miss two months of racing. However, he won the second stage of the Tour de Suisse and rode strongly in his debut Tour de France.

With so many uphill climbs in this year's Tour de France, the chances for a sprint win in the first week of the race were limited, and Gilmey finished 11th in stage 3 and 19th in stage 4, but on Friday he was joined by Philipsen and Mark Cavendish ( Astana Kazakstan) jumped up to third place behind him.

Saturday's stage 8 will likely play to Gilmey's strengths with a hilly course at the end of the 200.7km to Limoges.

"Our group is getting stronger every day, so I'm confident tomorrow," Gilmey said.

"The harder profile is expecting a smaller group that will sprint for the win.