Stage 8 of the 112th Tour de France continued through Brittany on Saturday with a flat profile that saw no breakaway in the first half. In a bunch sprint finish in Laval, Jonathan Milan claimed his first Tour de France stage win, ahead of Wout van Aert. Milan also took over the green jersey from Tadej Pogačar, who retained the overall lead without issue.
In fact, there was a visible difference in strategy in the final km for Pogačar and his rival, Visma–Lease a Bike’s Jonas Vingegaard. The Dane was being protected at the front by his teammates—eager to get to the magical 5 km-to-go threshold—but the rainbow jersey was tailgunning at the back like an absolute boss. (Big fan of this practice, btw.)
On Wout van Aert
Van Aert, who hasn’t exactly been in the mix in the first week of racing, was there to light it up. He took second in a nice little sprint behind Milan, and for us cycling fans, it was nice to see. And, turns out, he was pretty stoked too.
“I’m quite happy,” he said in the post-race press conference. “There wasn’t much to be done about Milan. It was a fair sprint. I had to get on his wheel, but I couldn’t get past him. It was a tough sprint, with that uphill section at the end. That’s why I wanted to take part. I was pretty close. I’m satisfied. It’s nice for me, too, to finally get a result.”
Van Aert had said before the stage he wouldn’t join the sprint in Laval, but later admitted he’d already made up his mind to go for it. “I’d decided before the start that I would sprint,” he said.
“My legs felt good yesterday and again today. Like I said before the Tour: it’s going to be hard to beat a guy like Milan, or Tim Merlier, who dropped out with a flat tire. It’s nice to finish just behind them.”
Demain, the lads in France are going on another flattish group ride—although it’s a bit of a spicy one.
Stage 9 goes from Chinon to Châteauroux for a total of 174.1 km.
Monday would normally be a rest day… but it’s the 14th of July, so the French need to do their thing. And it’s hardly flat either. Check back here for reports and photos! This Tour is shaping up to be a good one. (I mean, when are they not?)
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at Canadian Cycling Magazine…