Cycling: The eighth stage of the Tour de France made up for yesterday's lazy race. In the end, three professionals were able to celebrate in Saint-Étienne. Thomas De Gendt (Lotto - Soudal) won the stage, Thibaut Pinot (Groupama - FDJ) was able to gain time on the competition and Julian Alaphilippe (Deceuninck - Quick-Step) reclaimed the yellow jersey.
Four strong outliers
The eighth stage of the Tour de France was extremely hilly today. The riders had to cover 200,0 kilometers from Mâcon to Saint-Étienne, facing no fewer than seven categorized climbs. This should have been a good opportunity for the breakaway, but Team Sunweb and Bora-hansgrohe kept the leading group from getting too far ahead. Alessandro De Marchi (CCC), Thomas De Gendt (Lotto-Soudal), Ben King (Dimension King), and Niki Terpstra (Total-Direct Energie) built up a lead of around five minutes. This lead diminished significantly when Team Astana and EF Education First joined the chase. Together, they drastically reduced the gap. They were even riding so fast that Peter Sagan (Bora-hansgrohe) found himself in serious trouble. Meanwhile, De Marchi and De Gendt formed the leading duo, while their former companion had already been caught and dropped on this undulating course.
Three winners in Saint-Étienne
As expected, attacks came on the climb up the Côte de la Jaillère. Julian Alaphilippe (Deceuninck – Quick-Step) chased the bonus seconds. Thibaut Pinot (Groupama – FDJ) stayed alert on his wheel. Together they broke away from the much-reduced peloton, while Thomas De Gendt (Lotto – Soudal) was now riding solo at the front. Three races unfolded simultaneously: De Gendt fought for the stage win, Alaphilippe for the yellow jersey, and Pinot for time gains in the general classification. It was a battle for seconds in every sense. Ultimately, breakaway specialist Thomas De Gendt held on to victory by a few seconds. Behind him, Thibaut Pinot sprinted ahead of Julian Alaphilippe to take second place. This puts Alaphilippe back in the yellow jersey. The peloton simply had no energy left. So today Thomas De Gendt, Julian Alaphilippe and Thibaut Pinot all win.
#TourDeFrance 🚴 8ª Tappa Mâcon – Saint-Étienne #DeGendt vince la tappa di St. Etienne 🚵 #Alaphilippe si riprende la Maglia Gialla
Guarda la diretta 👉 https://t.co/4RqwOfYliu #RaiTour #TDF2019 pic.twitter.com/A4VwO0ZYCD
— RaiSport (@RaiSport) July 13, 2019