Tour de France stage 8 Live - Puncheur finish in Lausanne

Hello and welcome to Cyclingnews' live coverage of stage 8 of the Tour de France

Today will take us 186km from Dole to Lausanne, you can see our full preview piece here.

Troubling news already this morning as two riders have left the Tour de France following positive COVID-19 cases. 

Geoffrey Bouchard of AG2R Citroën and UAE Team Emirates' Vegard Stake Laengen are the first two riders to depart the race because of a positive COVID-19 result.

Many support staff have also left the race with positive tests.

A look at the map of stage 8 of the Tour de France, finishing on the summit finish of Côte du Stade olympique in Lausanne.

Our jersey holders are of course Tadej Pogačar on his second day in yellow, Wout Van Aert in the green jersey as leader of the points classification, Magnus Cort who continues in polka dots, nursing just a one point lead over Pogačar, and Tom Pidcock, who sports the white youth classification jersey, on behalf of Pogačar.

The peloton rolls towards the official race start in Dole. Once again, it looks likely that plenty of teams will be interested in being part of the day's early break.

Which teams will be the first to attack today? The Tour is only 8 stages old, so plenty of teams still have yet to make an impact on the race, and would love to assert themselves on this tricky, lumpy stage.

1km to go until we're underway. 

Christian Prudhomme appears through the sunroof of the commissaire's car with his yellow flag, and we're off.

KILOMETRE 0

The riders power away ready for 186.3km of two-wheeled combat. No moves as yet.

Kristian Sbaragli (Alpecin-Deceuninck) is the first rider to attack.

185km to go

Guess who? It's Magnus Cort - he's keen to get away and defend his polka dots. He's accompanied by a rider from Arkea-Samsic.

Wout Van Aert looks interested, highly visible at the front of the pack in his green skinsuit.

Plenty of moves continue to go.

Four riders nurse a small gap, but this breakaway is a long way from being established.

Everything comes back together and we go again, with riders from Lotto Soudal and QuickStep-AlphaVinyl pushing the pace.

180km to go

The three have a small gap - Mattia Cattaneo (QuickStep-AlphaVinyl), Fred Wright (Bahrain Victorious) and Brent Van Moer (Lotto Soudal) - but the attacks begin behind with Stefan Kung (Groupama-FDJ) among those interested.

The group of three carve out a 16 second gap as the attacks behind fail to stick.

It looks as though the riders at the front of the bunch are taking a moment to recharge before they try to bridge across to the front group.

Oh no - big crash at the back of the bunch, plenty of riders affected. Vlasov has hurt his face and a rider from Team DSM looks to be hurt.

The rider from DSM is up and walking. Peter Sagan waits by the roadside for a new bike.

175km to go

The peloton regroup and with the crash causing chaos, it seems as though it's given the break the chance they need to get away. They have 25 seconds now.

A large group, including the yellow jersey, ride together in a group a few seconds behind the main peloton.

UAE Team Emirates and Bora-Hansgrohe bring their leaders back to the main peloton.

Taco Van der Hoorn has broken out of the bunch and is trying to bridge across to the front three, as the attacks begin again.

Romain Bardet (Team DSM) gets a shoe change as he and his team mates chase on at the back of the bunch.

A group of around ten riders are trying to pull clear as the attacks continue. Groupama-FDJ are team time trialling back on at the back of the bunch.

UAE Team Emirates encourage everyone to block the road, and they have achieved their goal - George Bennett is the instigator of the accord.

Bardet is still struggling with his shoes - he stops once again and sorts himself out, before beginning the chase back, with Peter Sagan for company.

165km to go

Former team mates Steven Kruijswijk (Jumbo-Visma) and George Bennett share a joke and grab a snack as peace breaks out within the bunch. 

The breakaway remains a group of three - they have a long day ahead of them. They begin to open out their lead - currently they have 1:40.

Yesterday, UAE did not give the breakaway more than three minutes, so it will be interesting to see if they are similarly minded today.

Ben O'Connor has dropped back to visit the medical car - he seems to be struggling with a hip issue as he has some pain relief spray and painkillers.

Correction - it's Frederik Frison from Lotto Soudal up the road, not Brent Van Moer. He and his two breakaway colleagues, Fred Wright and Mattia Cattaneo, have pulled out a gap of 2:44.

160km to go

Kevin Vermaerke (Team DSM) abandons the race as a result of the injuries he sustained during that early crash.

Team Jumbo-Visma lend their power to the chase, with Nathan Van Hooydonck riding on the front, with Team BikeExchange-Jayco on his wheel and UAE Team Emirates tucked in behind.

The gap appears to be stabilising at just under three minutes, as the teams interested in riding for a stage win once again keep the breakaway on a tight leash.

155km to go

Felix Grossschartner (Bora-Hansgrohe) has a mechanical.

Jumbo-Visma and Team BikeExchange-Jayco lead the charge on stage 8 of the Tour de France.

Three riders continue to work in the breakaway but the peloton are not interested in giving them more than three minutes of breathing room.

The race will visit its fourth nation on today and tomorrow's stages - the final 70km or so of today will be ridden in Switzerland, with the race finishing in Lausanne's Olympic Stadium.

150km to go

The riders are travelling through some stunning landscapes, with sheer crags leading to an archway carved into the rock.

Jumbo-Visma and BikeExchange lead the peloton through Le cirque du Fer-à-Cheval, a stunning valley near the Swiss border, as the race enters the Alps.

The break have added a small amount to their lead - it currently stands at 3:30.

145km to go

The riders will shortly hit the day's intermediate sprint.

Following the intermediate sprint, the day's climbing will begin.

There are four peaks on the menu today - two category 4s and two category 3s.

140km to go

The three riders in the breakaway are about to take on the intermediate sprint - will they contest it among themselves?

No. The three roll through the intermediate sprint without showing any interest in racing for the points. Understandable really, with none of them involved in the green jersey battle. Fred Wright crosses the line first to take 20 points.

The peloton will pass through it in 3:20. 

The Jumbo-Visma leadout train lines up ready for the intermediate sprint. Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck) takes the win from the bunch with Wout Van Aert second.

Laporte is third with Jakobsen in fourth.  

Back to business in the peloton. The bunch string out along the road with Jumbo-Visma and Team BikeExchange-Jayco back on the front.

The break have a gap of 3:07.

It's a hot one out there today. Many of the riders have their jerseys unzipped. The heat is forecast to continue well into next week, with temperatures of 28 degrees predicted on Alpe d'Huez. It could be interesting to see if the heat has an impact on the GC race, with Pogačar openly stating the hot conditions present a problem for him at times.

The riders will be working steadily uphill for some time now as they head toward the first category four climb of the day.

130km to go

The three-man breakaway work together on stage 8 of the Tour de France.

The gap holds at around 3 minutes. 

BikeExchange and Jumbo-Visma continue to share the work at the front of the bunch.

125km to go

Today's finish is uphill and could provide an opportunity for the puncheurs. It's a category 3 ascent into the Olympic Stadium in Lausanne. 

We are not far from our first categorised climb of the day.

You really have to feel for Ben O'Connor. Hotly tipped for success this year, following a third place at the Criterium du Dauphine, he's suffered a terrible run of luck so far with crashes and mechanicals causing him to ship masses of time on a GC contest he was expected to be a big part of.

He's clearly suffering today. Tough to watch.

The gap is coming down as the riders head towards the climb - it currently stands at 2:38.

Michael Matthews seems to have had some sort of issue - possibly a crash and/or mechanical. He is paced back on at the back.

115km to go

Ben O'Connor is perilously close to losing touch at the back of the peloton here. He's having a really tough day out there.

The breakaway's gap diminishes yet again - it's 2:19 now and with over 110km still to ride, it spells doom for the three-man group.

The first categorised climb of the day will be Côte du Maréchet (category 4).

110km to go

The breakaway crest the climb, with Frederik Frison taking the single available KOM point.

Nathan Van Hooydonck (Jumbo-Visma) and Chris Juul Jensen (BikeExchange) continue to share responsibility at the front of the peloton, with UAE Team Emirates in close order behind them.

The riders have an uncategorised climb to contend before a relatively steep descent leads them toward the second categorised climb of the day, the Côte des Rousses.

105km to go

The gap is now under two minutes with BikeExchange leading the charge - Michael Matthews will be their chosen rider today, and he must be feeling good for his team to show this faith in him.

Matthews came second on stage 6, on the uphill sprint into Longwy, behind Tadej Pogačar.

Team Jumbo-Visma share the workload on behalf of Wout Van Aert, who is presumably also targeting the stage win.

Van Aert won stage 4 into Calais following a 10km solo breakaway effort. He had previously finished in second position on the first three stages in Denmark.

86km down, 100km to go. The breakaway maintain a fragile 1:46 lead over the chasing pack.

100km to go

The peloton roll into the long descent towards Morez.

The peloton manages the road furniture with aplomb, a few riders choosing to hop up onto the pathway and back down again.

The gap moves back out to 2:15. The second climb of the day will begin shortly. The Côte des Rousses is 6.7km long, and pitches up at an average of 5%.

90km to go

Rigoberto Uran (EF Education-EasyPost) drops back to the medical car to have a dressing on his elbow changed. 

The peloton works its way up the climb. The streets are lined with crowds and the flags are out in force.

Once the peloton hit the top of this climb, they have around 35km of relative flat land, over 1000m above sea level.

The race will shortly cross the border into Switzerland.

Team BikeExchange-Jayco are all in for the win today as the peloton heads into Switzerland on stage 8 of the Tour de France. (Image credit: Getty images)

The peloton winds its way through the town of Les Rousses.

Three men have been working in the breakaway for a large part of the day - Mattia Cattaneo (QuickStep-AlphaVinyl), Fred Wright (Bahrain Victorious) and Frederik Frison (Lotto Soudal).

Their lead over the peloton currently stands at just 1:34.

80km to go

Wout Van Aert, along with a few other riders, work their way back to the bunch following comfort breaks.

The gap to the breakaway has fallen to 1:06. It's not a particularly healthy lead for them, regrettably. This ones looks set to end in the predicted punchy sprint.

The riders are about to cross the border into the fourth country on this Tour so far. Having visited Denmark for the Grand Départ, the Tour returned to home soil for stage 4, before heading into Belgium on stage 6. Switzerland, and the Jura region, plays host to today's stage finish, and tomorrow's stage start.

75km to go

Great statistic for you - Team BikeExchange-Jayco have done 49% of the work on the front of the bunch today. Jumbo-Visma have done 28% and UAE Team Emirates 21%.

Four riders in the peloton are Swiss nationals, and are now on home soil - Sylvain Dillier (Alpecin-Deceuninck), Stefan Bissegger (EF Education-EasyPost), Stefan Küng (Groupama-FDJ) and Marc Hirschi (UAE Team Emirates).

The breakaway are digging in - Mattia Cattaneo suggests to his two colleagues that put their foot on the gas and try to open up their lead. The gap goes out to 1:18.

The breakaway are not going to go down without a fight. They extend their lead out to two minutes once again.

65km to go

Wright and Cattaneo look strong but Frison looks as though he may not be able to maintain the higher pace. 

The peloton have also increased the pace, and riders are hanging on at the back.

Jumbo-Visma and BikeExchange continue to drive the pace. The bunch snake through another town, as they head towards the Col de Petra Felix, a category 4 challenge.

Frison drops from the front group of three. His day is over.

The gap stabilises once more at 2:00. There is just under 10km to go until the next categorised climb.

60km to go

Frederik Frison slips back towards the peloton as Cattaneo and Wright push on at the front of the race.

BikeExchange have added another rider to the chase, as the gap settles at 2:11.

55km to go

The climb of the Col de Pétra Félix is 2.4km in length at an average gradient of 5.4%. 

The breakaway duo tackle the climb, 2:09 ahead of the bunch.

The peloton enters the climb. 50km remain on stage 8 of the Tour de France, as the riders head towards Lausanne.

50km to go

BikeExchange seem to have dropped out of the chase. Just Jumbo-Visma and UAE are visible working on the front now.

The climb has an impact on the peloton, as riders start to pop out of the back of the bunch, unable to stick with the tempo.

Thibaut Pinot (Groupama-FDJ) comes off his bike - he's straight back on again though and chasing back on.

Thibaut Pinot suffers once more, a collision with the Trek-Segafredo soigneur knocking his glasses off his face and bringing him to a stop. Terrible luck for the French rider.

Wright and Cattaneo attack the descent, maintaining their lead of 2:00.

Pinot is riding hard to get back to the bunch following a pair of incidents within the space of a minute. Thankfully he seems unharmed.

It's basically all descent from here until the final climb. Expect a frantic chase to the line.

It's arguably advantage peloton, as the gap comes back down to 1:45. 

40km to go

BikeExchange are back in the chase, after a change of personnel.

Pinot is around half a minute behind the rest of the bunch.

The time gap is still 1:38 - the peloton are working hard to close it but it's not coming down particularly quickly at the moment.

Wright and Cattaneo drive in the breakaway (Image credit: Getty images)

BikeExchange's Luke Durbridge drives the tempo on the front of the bunch and the gap reduces by another ten seconds. 

The riders have one last climb remaining, and it's the climb up to the finish line, which is at the Olympic Stadium in Lausanne.

Wright and Cattaneo are holding their gap at 1:22.

Things come back together after a bit of confusion at the front of the bunch. 

The peloton is strung out down the descent, 1:11 behind the leading duo of Cattaneo and Wright.

25km to go

We're about to head into the final 20km of today's stage into Lausanne. The peloton, lead by Team BikeExchange-Jayco and Jumbo-Visma, are chasing down the breakaway pair of Mattia Cattaneo and Fred Wright. 

A final category 3 climb up to the finish line remains.

20km to go

The gap is around 1:00 with 13km to ride until the final climb.

According to the stats, Cattaneo has done 55% of the work in the breakaway compared with Wright's 45%.

The road furniture causes a split for a moment as a rider from Jumbo-Visma drops his chain. All OK, thankfully.

15km to go

Pierre Latour (TotalEnergies) has a mechanical and will be forced to chase back on. A number of groups have dropped away from the back of the bunch.

Nathan Van Hooydonck drops out of the chase, having worked at the front for the most part of the day. The GC teams line up alongside the race leaders.

The gap has dropped below a minute and it's falling reasonably quickly - down to 41 seconds, with just over 10km remaining.

The category 3 climb begins in just over 5km.

Ineos, TotalEnergies, EF, Trek and Bora are all visible at the front now and adding their resources to the chase. Still though, the gap holds at 41 seconds.

10km to go

9km to go, 4km to the climb, the breakaway still holds a slender lead of just 37 seconds.

Cattaneo is dropped from the breakaway as Fred Wright strikes out alone.

Fred Wright is alone at the head of the race. He has a 27 second lead, it would be a real surprise if he could maintain this lead up the climb. The peloton bears down as the climb approaches.

AG2R-Citroen and Alpecin-Deceuninck, including Mathieu Van der Poel, are now driving the pace.

Time to climb. This 4.8km ascent will decide stage 8 of the Tour de France.

5km to go

Wright's gap is down to 18 seconds - his time is almost up. Alpecin lead the charge up the slope.

Pogačar is right at the head of the race. 

The group slims down to the stage hopefuls and GC contenders as the gradient kicks up to 12%. Wright is about to be swamped by the bunch.

3.5km to go - Bora-Hansgrohe push on at the front.

What remains of the bunch strings out up the climb.

Vingegaard is glued to Pogačar's wheel in 3rd and 4th spot on the road.

Plenty of big names in with a chance of the stage win today - who will be first to launch?

1.5km to go, Bora still lead the charge.

Van Aert, Pidcock, Pogačar and Matthews are among the contenders at the front of the bunch.

UAE Team Emirates lead the elite selection towards the Flamme Rouge.

Philipsen is dropped. The puncheurs will have their day.

Rafal Majka pushes into the final few hundred metres on behalf of Pogačar.

500m remain on stage 8 of the Tour de France.

250m to go - Jungels launches for AG2R.

Wout Van Aert wins stage 8 of the Tour de France ahead of Michael Mathews and Tadej Pogačar.

The Jumbo-Visma man timed that one perfectly. Matthews launched his sprint with Pogačar in hot pursuit, but Van Aert came around them both to cruise through for the win, his second of this year's Tour de France.

Michael Matthews now has two second place finishes so far this Tour.

Tadej Pogačar will retain the yellow jersey following the stage, with Wout Van Aert extending his lead in the green jersey competition.

Andreas Kron (Lotto Soudal) and Alberto Bettiol (EF Education-EasyPost) came through to finish in 4th and 5th.

Pogačar gains 4 bonus seconds on a stage where his team had very little work to do.

Magnus Cort retains the polka dot jersey by a single point.

Wout Van Aert: "Of course I'm super happy, but with the green points up for grabs, today was a big chance to take points on a few of my competitors, so I'm really glad my team put everything in to chase down the breakaway, and then you have to finish it off.

"It was a pretty tough climb, with the flat part in between meant that everything uphill was really steep so I had to fight to stay in the wheel on Pogačar and his team mates."

Michael Matthews: "I waited too long. But even if I'd gone earlier this time I think Wout was just amazing out there today. I mean, my best team wrote a great race to leave me where I needed to be. And I mean, second again - hopefully I'm knocking on the door of that win. 

"I saw we had around 200 to go. It looks like a lot of guys. Tadej and Wout were boxing the left a little bit. So I was hoping get rid of a jump but yeah, just wasn't quick enough."

Wout Van Aert wins a thrilling uphill sprint in Lausanne. (Image credit: Getty images)

Pogačar on today's stage: "It was not that far away but it was a fun game. I maybe hesitated a little bit and Van Aert passed me with super speed. For sure it's a little disappointing but third place is still great." 

"I always like sprinting, when I was younger I was the smallest and almost always last. I'm really happy that now at least when it's going up 4 or 5k I can still do a solid sprint in the end. But still not as close as Matthews and Van Aert.

"Today was not the plan to win in the jersey, we said we'd sit back and tried to relax. BikeExchange and Jumbo-Visma had interest to pull and to win the stage from the bunch. We were thinking maybe today was breakaway day, but in the end it was an opportunity for us to take the win."

The fight for the line - Matthews, Van Aert and Pogačar sprint to the finish in Lausanne (image credit: Getty images)

So, let's remind ourselves of the standings following today's stage. Tadej Pogačar extends his lead in the overall classification by 4 seconds following his 3rd place on the stage - he now leads Jonas Vingegaard by 39 seconds. Geraint Thomas, Adam Yates and David Gaudu round out the top 5.

Van Aert retains the green jersey and adds to his lead in that competition - he now leads by 115 points from Fabio Jakobsen.

Magnus Cort retains the KOM polka dots and Tom Pidcock will continue in the white jersey of best young rider, on behalf of Tadej Pogačar.

Tadej Pogačar retains the maillot jaune on stage 8 of the Tour de France (Image credit: Getty images)

Tomorrow's stage begins in Aigle, as the peloton faces its first proper mountain test, heading into the rest day.

Join us for tomorrow's stage right here - 192.9km of racing from Aigle to Châtel Les Portes du Soleil.