Tour de France stage 8 - Live coverage

Hello and welcome to our live coverage of stage 8 of the Tour de France.

As the Cyclingnews blimp takes height, the riders are signing on in Cazères before the 141km stage.

Today's stage is relatively short but is packed with major climbs in the Pyrenees. 

As always, we'll have all the action as the overall contenders will go head to head.

We'll also see if Julian Alaphilippe can take back the yellow jersey from Adam Yates. 

At the start the teams are getting ready to race. With 20 minutes to the roll out, its time to put the bidons in the race bikes. 

This is the profile of today's 141km stage.  

Before we get going, why not catch up on yesterday's action. There was a lot of action, with Bora attacking early to distancing Peter Sagan's green-jersey rivals before a tail/cross wind sparked echelons and lead to several GC contenders losing time.

Wout (Wowt!) van Aert (Jumbo-Visma) won the sprint finish. Enjoy our full report, results and photo gallery in the link below. 

Tour de France: Wout van Aert wins stage 7

To understand what might happen in the Pyrenees this weekend, check out this excellent preview by Barry Ryan. 

He suggests the Pyrenean stages offer a launchpad for attacks but warns the fight for the yellow jersey is also a game of patience.    

Preview: Pyrenean doubleheader offers launchpad but tough Tour de France inspires caution  

"The Pyrenees are heartless, ruthless and atheist. Devoid of affection, a psychologist would say," the late Italian juornalist Gianni Mura wrote, outlining precisely why the Pyrenees matter. 

The Tour, an endurance race shrouded in emotion, always benefits from an indifferent arbiter like the Pyrenees to lay everything bare.

Meanwhile at the start, the riders are lining up, they're taking off their masks and are about to roll out.  

The stage covers flat country roads for the opening 42km until the intermediate sprint, then the mountains begin with the legendary Col du Mente, it is followed by the 11km Porte de Bales and then the Col de Peyresourde, before a fast, technical descent to the finish in Loudenvielle.  

Fasten your seatbelts, the Tour de France ands the fight for overall victory is about to get very serious.

Here we go. 3-2-1. Go! The riders roll out of Cazères.  

Race Director Christian Prudhomme has waved the official start outside of Cazères and we have a first attack. 

Søren Kragh Andersen (Sunweb) was last to finish Friday's stage and is the first to attack today.

Others have now joined him as they try to form the early break of the day. However the pace is high as other riders try to join the move or close it down. 

We could see a real battle, with attacks and chases, until beyond the intermediate sprint at 42km. 

The KOM leader Benoît Cosnefroy is trying to join the attack with others, that could make for a big and very interesting group. 

This is how it all kicked off. 

There are 13 riders up front, including Ilnur Zakarin (CCC) and the USA's Neilson Powless (EF).  

After just 10km the peloton has eased and let them go. 

130km to go

The peloton is lined out across the road. The break has flown and have a 2:00 lead.

This could be a great day for Zakarin and Cosnefroy.

It's easy to spot Cosnefroy in the peloton. He's covered in polka-dots from head to toe.

The peloton has eased even more now, and the gap to the break is up to 4:00. 

The riders in the peloton are now chatting as they roll along.  

Mitchelton-Scott have taken up position on the front of the peloton to lead the chase and defend Adam Yates' yellow jersey. 

The 13 riders in the attack are: Benoît Cosnefroy and Nans Peters (AG2R-La Mondiale), Ilnur Zakarin (CCC), Kevin Reza and Quentin Pacher (B&B Hotels-Vital Concept), Michael Morkov (Deceuninck-Quick Step), Neilson Powless (EF), Fabien Grellier and Jérôme Cousin (Total Direct Energie), Carlos Verona (Movistar), Toms Skujins (Trek-Segrafredo), Soren Kragh Andersen (Sunweb) and Ben Hermans (Israel Start-Up Nation).

It will be interesting to see who emerges from this group. Zakarin is clearly the best climber in the move and so the favourite for an eventual stage victory if the peloton let the break go away.  

Here are the 13 attackers working smoothly together. 

A number of riders are licking their wounds in the peloton after losing time yesterday. 

Mikel Landa (Bahrain McLaren), Bauke Mollema and Trek teammate Richie Porte, Pogacar, Dan Martin (Israel Start-Up Nation) and Esteban Chaves (Mitchelton-Scott) were on the wrong side of the gap. They lost 1:21 to their GC rivals. 

Poor Pogacar was quizzed about seeking revenge today at the start. 

"You are the third person asking me about revenge," he told Eurosport." 

"Yesterday I lost time in a hectic stage but the team did good job. That's racing and that’s cycling. Today is hard stage and we keep fighting. Today we’ll try to do our best." 

105km to go

The riders can see the Pyrenees on the horizon now.  They're 10km away from the intermediate sprint but the 13 riders will sweep up  most of the points. Sagan and the others will fight for just 2 and 1 points for 14th and 15th place on the line.

To read more about how Pogacar and Landa lost time and their reactions, read this story.

Tour de France: Pogačar, Landa lose time on dramatic day of crosswind racing 

The break is about to reach the intermediate sprint. 

Jerome Cousin kicks away and wins the intermediate sprint. His early attack surprised Michael Morkov (Deceuninck) to take maximum points and a prize of 1500 Euro.

The 13 riders have quickly reformed and are working  together again. They know they need to stick together and try to gain as much time as possible so they hold off the charge of the GC leaders on the major climbs later. 

Sam Bewley is leading the peloton for Mitchelton, with Ineos riding in formation behind the Australia team. 

Jumbo-Visma sit behind their major rivals. 

As we wait for the GC battle to come alive today, this is a reminder of the top ten on GC. 

Yates leads Roglic by just 3 seconds, Guillaume Martin (Cofidis) is at 9 seconds, Egan Bernal (Ineos) and Tom Dumoulin (Jumbo) and other GC riders are at 13 seconds.

Alaphilippe is 11th at 15 seconds but is expected to try to take back yellow, 

As we expected, the sprinters  did fight for the final 2 and 1 points at the intermediate sprint. 

Sam Bennett (Deceuninck) won it, scoting 2 points, Bryan Coquard (B&B) was next, taking 1 point.  Peter Sagan (Bora) tried to fight for  it but ran out of legs and so missed out on any points. 

He still leads the green jersey points competition but Bennett is now only 7 points behind now.  

88km to go

The breakaway are on the first climb of the day now, the first-category Col de Menté.

It's 6.9km long at an average of 8.1 per cent.

The gap back to the Mitchelton-Scott led peloton is up to 13:50 now.

10 KOM points on offer up here, followed by 15 and 10 on the final two clmibs of the day. The KOM leader Benoît Cosnefroy is in the break, of course.

No worries in the peloton as Jumbo-Visma, Bora-Hansgrohe, Cofidis and Groupama-FDJ all ride at the front along with Mitchelton-Scott. The pace isn't high in the group, with sprinters such as Sam Bennett and Giacomo Nizzolo still in there.

It's the same in the break – all together midway up the climb.

A look at the breakaway today.

83km to go

European champion Giacomo Nizzolo has abandoned the Tour de France. He just stopped midway up the Col de Menté, rolling back to his team car before climbing off.

We're at the point in the race where we can clearly see who the in-form men are – not necessarily in terms of GC, rather those that are regulars in the breakaway.

It's Cosnefroy's fourth time out front after stages 2, 3 and 7, as well as an attack on stage 1.

Pacher (stage 4), Cousin (stage 3), Gogl (stage 2), Skujins (stage 2) and Powless (stage 6) have all been out in the break once previously, too.

Meanwhile, the pace in the peloton is upping a little now. Caleb Ewan, André Greipel and Elia Viviani are among those dropping out the back as the gap has gone down to 13:20.

Cosnefroy duly attacks at the top of the climb. He collects the points without contest.

JJ Rojas (Movistar) crashes in the peloton after being squeezed against the barriers.

Here's the order at the top of the Menté:

1.      Benoît Cosnefroy, 10 points
2.      Quentin Pacher, 8
3.      Jérôme Cousin, 6
4.      Fabien Grellier, 4
5.      Ilnur Zakarin, 2
6.      Nans Peters, 1

71km to go

Romain Bardet (AG2R La Mondiale) has hit the deck. He's bleeding from his left elbow but he's back up and running with a couple of teammates to bring him back to the peloton.

We'll see if it's affecting him in any major way later on.

They're grabbing lunch in the peloton, 12 minutes down on the break as the pass the top of the climb.

The break are in the valley now. 34km to go to the top of the next climb, the HC-rated Port de Balès.

60km to go

The break is still working together after the descent of the Col de Mente. They lead the peloton by 11:40 now. 

They will have to fight all the way to the finish if any of them want to stay away.

This is what the rider faces on the Port de Bales climb. 

In the break, Jerome Cousin (Total) has attacked to try to up the pace and perhaps ensure he can go over the climb with the strongest of the 13-rider break.  

Cousin leads the attackers by 40 seconds. 

The Port de Balès is the first of five Hors Category (HC) climbs in the 2020 Tour de France.  There is also the Grand Colombier on stage 15, the Col de la Madeleine and col de la Loze on stage 17 and the Montée du Plateau des Glières on stage 18.

Several teams in the bunch have  grabbed musettes and bidons, loading up for the Porte de Bales climb.  

Jumbo have now taken over from Mitchelton on the front and appear to have upped the pace.  

Roglic is talking tactics with Wout van Aert, with the Ineos riders tucked behind them.

The Porte de Bales climb is 11.7km long with an average gradient of 7.7%. 

There are two sections at over 10%, with several changes in gradient that will hurt the riders. 

48km to go

As the Porte de Bales, it's Tony Martin on the front, setting a high pace.  

Race on!  

The break leads the peloton by 12:40 as the climb starts. It will be fascinating to see how much time they lose on the 11km climb. 

Kevin Reza and Michael Morkov are the first to be distanced from the break, as Cousin pushes on alone. 

However the race is also on behind now. Jumbo seem serious about testing their rivals on the Porte de Bales climb.

Up front Zak has put the knife in the break and attacked. Only three riders can go with him.

The accelerations in the attack have meant Cousin has been caught and spat out the back. It was a brave but painful attack by the Frenchman.

Zakarin is driving the pace in the attack. He is by  far the strongest climber on paper but needs to be at his best to stay away and win today.

With Zak are Quentin Pacher (B&B) and Nans Peters (AG2R) but he's making them hurt. 

Riders are being spat out of the back from the peloton as the climb hurts. 

At the head of the peloton, the  Jumbo and Bora are setting the pace. Bora are riding for Buchmann, who must be back to near his best after injuries pre-Tour.

Wow. The pace is hurting in the peloton. Pinot is distanced! 

Groupama-FDJ's road captain William Bonnet has already quit the Tour de France and Pinot seems to be suffering after his injuries incurred on stage 1. 

Pinot has three teammates with him but they're all riding slowly, very slowly. 

Pinot's head has dropped. He is clearly struggling and demoralised. 

Pinot is already two minutes down on the peloton.

Jumbo didn't attack, they just set a steady pace on the Porte de Bales and Pinot couldn't hold the pace. He hurt his back but seemed to have recovered. He was able to stay in the front echelon during the attacks on Friday's 7th stage. 

He was 9th overall in the GC at just 13 seconds. Suddenly his GC hopes and perhaps even his Tour are over. 

There are only 60 or so riders in the peloton now as Gesink puts down a hard pace. Wout van Aert is sat  behind him, followed by Dumoulin, Roglic and Bennett. 

Surprisingly Sepp Kuss is dropped. He had been Roglic's strongest domestique but he's clearly having a bad day today.

Adam Yates is still in the GC peloton and looking good. 

At the summit of the porte de Bales, Peters takes the KOM points but Zakarin is with him. 

They lead the GC peloton by 10:00 now.

Skujins, Powless and others are only 50 seconds behind them. 

up front Zakarin is struggling on the descent. He's lost contact with Nans Peter. Zak is descending on  the top of the brake levers and that is making his descending even worse. 

And of course, today there's a technical descent to the finish today.  

Pinot rides on but he's lost more than five minutes.  

In the GC peloton, Wout van Aert is now setting the pace for Domoulin and Roglic. This is hurting and more riders are being spat out. 

Kwiatkowski is dropped too, leaving just Carapaz with Bernal for Ineos. Bernal is wearing the best young  rider's white jersey today after Pogacar lost time yesterday. 

Tom Dumoulin is also suffering under Van Aert's pace setting.  Fortunately fore him and everyone else, they reach the summit, some 9:30 down on Zakarin and Peters.

Adam Yates is rightly tucked on Roglic's wheel. The Briton looks good today as he tries to defend his yellow jersey. 

Nan Peters leads Zakarin by 30 seconds thanks to his better descending skills.  The chasers are  at 50 seconds but could catch Zak. 

He will have to attack again on the  Col de Peyresourde and open a big gap if he wants to win the stage.  

20 km to go

Pinot does not seem to be suffering now but he clearly can't put out the power he needs to stay with the GC contenders group. 

Powless goes wide on the descent but stays focused and slows by riding on the grass. He saved his skin and his race. He gets a push from a spectator and is back chasing.   

Pinot and his Groupama teammates reach the top of the Porte de Bales. his race has turned into a funeral march, he is 8:00 down in the GC group.

That's tragic for the likable Frenchman and all of French cycling. 

This is Powless' risky moment.

As the break starts the  Col de Peyresourde, Peters is going deep to hold off Zakarin. He won a stage at the 2019 Giro d'Italia to Anterselva with a similar aggressive ride. 

He leads Zakarin by 30 seconds, with the chasers at 55 seconds. Of course Peters can also count on his descending skills to catch and distance Zakarin.   

17km to go

These are the riders in the GC group as they finish the descent of the porte de Bales.  

Wout van Aert, Primoz Roglic, Tom Dumoulin, George Bennett (Jumbo-Visma), Egan Bernal, Richard Carapaz (Ineos Grenadiers), Esteban Chaves, Adam Yates (Mitchelton-Scott), Guillaume Martin (Cofidis), Nairo Quintana (Arkéa-Samsic), Romain Bardet (Ag2r La Mondiale), Miguel Ángel López (Astana Pro Team), Rigoberto Urán, Sergio Higuita, Daniel Martínez (EF Education First), Enric Mas, Alejandro Valverde, Marc Soler (Movistar Team), Julian Alaphilippe (Deceuninck-Quick Step), Emanuel Buchmann (Bora-Hansgrohe), Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates), Bauke Mollema, Richie Porte (Trek-Segafredo), Damiano Caruso, Mikel Landa (Bahrain-McLaren) and Pierre Rolland (B&B Hotels-Vital Concept).

It will be interesting to see if Dumoulin can hold the pace today. He's now on the front and so may sacrifice his overall chances to help Roglic.

Sadly for Nairo Quintana, Arkea Samsic teammate Diego Rosa has abandoned the Tour after a crash. 

Up front Zakarin is catching Peters.

Attack Alaphilippe!  

4km from the summit of the  Col de Peyresourde, the Frenchman has attacked the GC group but its short lived. 

He's suffering and cracks! That was a short attack.  

However the attack has slip the GC contenders. 

Pogacar attacks now and is joined by Roglic. 

Quintana joins them as Bernal tries to chase.  

There's a lot of wind on the climb but there is a selection. 

Bernal has Landa and others on his wheel as he drags them back up to Roglic, Pogacar and Quintana.  

Adam Yates is further back and so is losing the yellow jersey now. Roglic could and should be yellow this evening. 

Tom Dumoulin has also been distanced after working for Roglic.

Uran closes the gap to the Pogacar/Roglic/Quintana trio but Bernal struggled for a moment. 

The pace slows and so Yates gets back on too. This is a tactical battle. 

The GC riders are still 4km from the summit of the Col de Peyresourde. That is a lot of road for more attacks and time losses. 

Indeed Pogacar surges away again. 

He has opened a 20-second gap as others try to chase him. Carapaz helped Bernal close some gaps and is still in the chase group.   

Peters is cheered by the crowd as he passes over the top of the  Col de Peyresourde. Only the 11km descent lies between him and a Tour de France victory. 

This screen grab shows the crowds on the top of the Col de Peyresourde.

10km to go

There are 13 GC contenders in the chase group now. Roglic no longer seems sharp and is now alone after all of Jumbo's hard work. 

At the summit of the  Col de Peyresourde, Pocagar is 6:35 down on Peters. 

Porte and Landa summit are 50 seconds down on Pogacar.  

Behind him, Guillaume Martin (Cofidis) is on the move and is followed by Roglic and others. 

He's distanced Adam Yates and so Martin is virtual race leader but Yates is fighting back.   

Yates is fighting back on the descent. He's refusing to give up his yellow jersey. 

Over the top Quintana and Roglic go clear but Yates is there and can close the gap on the descent.

As the descent starts, Roglic goes on the attack. He has previous success near here thanks to his descending skills.   

Here comes Nans Peters of AG2R. He wins the stage after a gutsy attack. He was not the best climber in the attack but rode an excellent race.

Peters waves at the crowds as he enjoys his moment. 

Toms Skujiņš wins the sprint for 2nd place, Carlos Verona (Movistar) was third after the two chasers caught and dropped Ilnur Zakarin (CCC Team) on the descent to the finish in Loudenvielle.

Back to the GC battle and the riders are fighting for every second. 

Pogacar leads by close to a minute. He is going to take back a lot of the time he lost on Friday.

On the short climb near the finish, Bardet attacks now. It is anarchy out on the roads of the Tour today. 

Here comes Pogacar. The clock starts to see how much time he has gained on hid GC rivals.

Bardet is next home at 38 seconds, Yates is three seconds behind him, with the other GC riders, so Yates stays in the yellow jersey for another day. 

Other riders, including Mollema and Buchmann have lost time today. 

Enric Mas of Movistar has also a few vital seconds. 

This is the top ten for the stage. 

Other riders to lose time are Dumoulin and Higiuta of EF.  

This is the new top ten overall.

Check out the time gaps. 

Yates fought back time and time again to defend his three-second lead on Roglic. 

Guillaume Martin remains close at 9 seconds. Romain Bardet's time gain moved him up to 4th at 11 seconds and Egan Bernal is fifth at 13 seconds, like Quintana, Lopez and Uran.

Pogacar is up to ninth at 48 seconds. 

Here comes Alaphilippe. He finishes a massive 18:07 down and loses any hope of a good GC or taking back the yellow jersey.

What a stage and what a race. So much has happened, it difficult to understand it all. 

For sure the overall battle for victory has been severely shaken out. 

The big losers are Pinot and Alaphilippe, but also Dumoulin, Higuita and others. 

Tadej Pogacar (UAE) was one of the winners today after losing more than a minute on Friday. 

His late attack showed his aggression and climbing ability. He gained 38 seconds on Bardet and 40 seconds on most of his GC rivals. 

He was disappointed yesterday but far happier today. 

"I saw that the other guys were looking at each other and everyone was on the limit, I had the chance to attack and I went full gas for the last 5 km to the top," he said.

"In the downhill I tried to go as deep as I could and at the end I had 40 seconds of advantage, so it was a good day for me. Tomorrow will be another hard day, we will see day by day how we face each stage." 

The AG2r team are understandably celebrating a big day for them. 

French Prime Minister Jean Castex was at the Tour de France today, it would be interesting to know what he thought of the significant crowds on the climbs and why some people were not wearing masks and were so tightly packed together. 

Nans Peters (AG2R La Mondiale) struggled to understand that he was the stage winner.  

"This is crazy, absolutely crazy. I had a dream to win a stage in the Tour de France and I've done it," he said. 

"To be honest Zakarin was better than me on the climb but I did everything I could. I kept telling myself, telling myself I'm the best, I'm the strongest. I really did everything I could. 

"The crowd on the climb was big and kept me going. When I saw 2km from the finish I said this is it, I'm done - I'm going to win."

Thibaut Pinot finished a massive 25:23 behind Nans Peters and so almost 20 minutes down on his (former) GC rivals. 

Before he finished, Groupama team manager Marc Madiot spoke to the media at the mixed zone at the finish.

"We’re not going to cry about it. We’re going to move forward. There’s no point in crying," he said. 

"I still don’t think that he’s recovered from that crash on the first stage of the Tour. In the mountains it’s always difficult anyway. He’s been struggling since the second stage and we really thought that he was feeling better. He just wasn’t on the same level as he was on the Criterium du Dauphine. 

"We can tell that today was a tough one for him. We’re going to have to recover, then have the rest day, and hopefully we can look at stage wins or the king of the mountains jersey."

Roger Kluge was the last man across the line at at 32 minutes 39. 

The time limit was set at 38 minutes 45, so he made it pretty easily.  

After a number of abandons, there are now 168 riders left in the race before Sunday's ninth stage.

Egan Bernal didnt seem super strong and wasn't able to follow all the attacks but he avoided losing any time to his biggest GC rivals and kept the white jersey.

He is fifth at 13 seconds down on Yates.

Adam Yates plan for the Tour de France was to target stage victories but today he fought like a lion to hold onto the yellow jersey. 

Now he hopes to do the same on Sunday and carry it into the first rest day and next week.

“Dumoulin he set a ferocious pace [on last climb] you know, and I just couldn’t hold the wheel. I actually rode my own pace for a little bit, sort of collect myself. Over the top I stayed with the guys, so in all a good day." he said post-stage.

"Tomorrow is a very similar stage. If we can hold on for another day, the day after that is a rest day, so hopefully we can hold on [yellow jersey] until then. 

“It’s been good. We’ve kept things under control and I’ve sort of done my thing and tried to stay out of trouble. So like I said, hopefully we can get through tomorrow and then we’ll take it from there.”

To understand more about all the action and all the changes in GC of today click below to read our full stage report and to see our growing photo gallery and full results.

Tour de France: Nans Peters wins stage 8 

This puts today' racing into perspective.

This tweet tells the story of Groupama's day after Pinot's suffered and lost 25 minutes. 

Pinot spoke before climbing on the Groupama bus. He admitted his back injury from stage 1 had affected his performance. He won't quit the Tour but admitted that his career may now change. 

"I clung to encouraging signs, but it was a hassle since Saturday. My back hurts so much that I have no strength, I can't pedal," pinot said. 

"I'm not leaving the Tour, in any case I had that idea, but it's a complicated day. I just want to apologize to my teammates, because it's a huge disappointment for everyone: for the team, for me. 

"Today is maybe a turning point in my career, it's too many failures for me. I always say that cycling is about fighting and having fun. The team is very strong, so from now on, so we will be crossing our fingers and trying to win stages."

for a long time it looked like today was Ilnur Zakarin's day. He was the strongest in the break but sadly the worst on the descents. He lost Nans Peters' wheel on the descent of the Porte de Bales and was unable to catch him on the  Col de Peyresourde. 

The Russan eventually finished fourth on the stage after also being caught by Toms Skujiņš and Carlos Verona.   

This was the moment Nans Peters enjoyed on the podium.

And this is Yates on the podium and still in yellow.

Egan Bernal (Ineos Grenadiers) did what he had to on stage 8 of the Tour de France and held most his key rivals for the yellow jersey in check, despite being put on the back foot several times on the final climb of the Col de Peyresourde.

Read what he said post-stage here. 

Egan Bernal digs deep to cling to Tour de France rivals 

To read other rider reactions, click the link below. 

We have what Peters, Pogacar, Yates, Zakarin and more said at the finish line.

Tour de France 2020 stage 8 - finish line quotes

The first Pyrenean stage of the 2020 Tour de France saw some dramatic changes on GC with several potential contenders losing time. 

Click the link below to see who lost time. 

Tour de France: Which GC contenders lost time on stage 8 in the Pyrenees  

Today's first mountain stage in the Pyrenees was not expected to cause too much damage to the GC but as the dust settles, the true picture emerges and the biggest victim is Thibaut Pinot.

Read our first story on the Frenchman below. 

Thibaut Pinot's Tour de France hopes crushed on the Port de Balès

Thanks for following all our live updates from the stage and all our post-stage updates and information.

We'll be back to do the same all over again on Sunday' for stage 9 from Pau to Laruns. It's another mountain stage in the Pyrenees, so get ready for more action.