Roglic out of Tour de France after Stage 12 crash

Primoz Roglic is out of the Tour de France as a result of injuries suffered in a crash late in Stage 12.

Roglic, 34, was one of the four main pre-race favourites, but his bid for yellow came to an end when he hit the deck in an incident around 10 kilometres from the end of the 204km stage from Aurillac to Villeneuve-sur-Lot on Thursday.

"Primoz Roglic underwent careful examination by our medical team after yesterday's stage and again this morning. The decision has been taken that he will not start today, to focus on upcoming goals," a statement from Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe said.

Roglic was left with a bloodied right shoulder following the incident, and there were immediate questions over whether he would continue in the race given he and his teammates made little attempt to chase back to the peloton, finishing around two-and-a-half minutes down on the main pack.

The Slovenian had started the stage fourth overall, two minutes 15 seconds behind race leader Tadej Pogacar, having avoided a time loss when he had also suffered a small crash in the final stages of Wednesday's Stage 11.

Biniam Girmay won his third stage, beating Wout van Aert in a somewhat messy sprint finish that ended with Arnaud Demare and Mark Cavendish relegated from third and fifth respectively.

Pogacar continues to lead by 66 seconds from Remco Evenepoel, with defending champion Jonas Vingegaard a further six seconds back in third. Roglic fell from fourth to sixth, now four minutes 42 seconds down.

Jai Hindley remains Australia's leading rider, in 19th, 19:25 off the lead while compatriot Jack Haig is two places and 1:07 behind him.

Girmay was already the only rider in the race with more than one stage win in this Tour, and he made it a hat-trick on the 204km stage from Aurillac.

"I knew I could do good results if I have the right wheels and I've proved in the last three sprints I can win," he said.

The win puts Girmay in a commanding position in the points classification and, with Friday's stage to Pau one of only two real opportunities left for the sprinters, the green jersey looks to be his to keep if he makes it to Nice.

"Since I've started to wear this jersey, somehow I've felt super fast, especially in my mind," Girmay added.

"I just believe I can prove I am the best."

This was supposed to be a day for the general classification contenders to take a breath after Wednesday's battle in the Massif Central, but things changed with a crash 10km from the finish.

Alexey Lutsenko tumbled over an island in the middle of the road and the incident caused several riders to hit the deck, including Roglic.

His teammates were grouped around him as they set off again, but their demeanour was not one of a team desperately chasing to get back as Roglic slipped down the standings.

It was another attritional day as reports and rumours of illness continue to swirl in the race.

A day after an under-the-weather Fred Wright missed the time cut, Bahrain-Victorious also lost leader Pello Bilbao, who climbed into the team car midway through the stage, shortly after Fabio Jakobsen had also abandoned.

Astana-Qazaqstan announced before the race that Cavendish's primary lead-out man Michael Morkov had left the race due to COVID-19. Cavendish said he believed other riders are riding with COVID.