2018 Tour de France: Stage 8 Preview

The Bastille-Day stage finishes in the home town of French president Emmanuel Macron!

Amiens, another city known by the tourists for its cathedral, is a place for sprinters to win, whether they come from the south like in 1999 (Mario Cipollini) or from the north in 2015 (André Greipel), for the last two stops of the Tour de France in the capital of Picardy.

This deadly flat region is the home of current French best sprinter Arnaud Démare, who won stage 4 with the national champion jersey last year. He couldn't ask for more than shining in his backyard on July 14 this year. Although the crowd is more international nowadays, the Tour is always very popular on that off-day.

Starting from Dreux, stage 8 is only slightly longer than Évreux to Amiens, won by Johan Bruyneel in 1993 at the average speed of 49.417km/h, which stood for six years as the fastest stage ever. Cycling can be a tailwind sport in this northern part of France, riding from south to north east.