After a few days of a unique excitement for the yellow jersey, which found itself flip-flopped between Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) and Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck), stage 8 of the Tour de France will offer the GC a moment of peace. It will also offer the sprinters a chance to seize the day.
There is just one category four climb en route to the finish in Laval in the form of the Côte de Nuillé-sur-Vicoin (0.9km at 3.8%), which comes with around 17km to go. That elevation and grade will prove too mild for even Pogačar's most decisive attack, though it seems we can never say never.
Failing an unexpected disruption from the man in yellow, or an unlikely breakaway success, this will be one for the sprint teams to control. The slight climb and technical finish will put a lot of stress on the lead-out train, while also no doubt causing the major GC teams to compete for a crash-free position.
With Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck) having departed the race due to a crash, Tim Merlier (Soudal-QuickStep) may be a strong bet to make a repeat of his stage 3 victory – especially as Soudal-QuickStep battles to protect Remco Evenepoel near the front of the peloton.
That said, we'll also be keeping our eyes on Jonathan Milan (Lidl-Trek), who will be craving his first stage win of his Tour de France debut, and will most likely be the team's singular focus.
Stage 8 Sprints
- Vitré, km. 85.5
Stage 8 Mountains
- Côte de Nuillé-sur-Vicoin (cat. 4), km. 155
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