Tour de France stage 8 Live – A challenge for the sprinters

Lots more attacks from the peloton on the climb, including Kwiatkowski and Lapeira.

Fabio Jakobsen is dropped out of the peloton on the climb.

More unorthodox tactics from EF. Their two leaders have dropped off the pace, meaning Abrahamsen is out alone.

Grégoire is still a minute behind the leaders, and 20 seconds ahead of the peloton.

They’re on the second climb already – Côte de Villy-en-Auxois, which is a category four.

It might have seemed strange of EF Education-EasyPost to reignite the race despite having two men up the road, especially as by doing so they cut their advantage. But there is method in the madness – they must believe that, as it stands, the 3-man lead group has no chance of making it to the finish, and the only way they will is if a few riders (whether from their team, or another) bridge up to them.

The attacks aren’t done, however. Romain Grégoire is the latest to make a move.

The chase group with Healy, Van Gils and Burgaudeau have been brought back by the peloton.

The pace is fast enough again to force some riders out the back of he peloton – including Cavendish. 

And now Bissegger is done.

Max Van Gils and Mathieu Burgaudeau have joined the three chasers.

The break has reached the top, and Abrahamsen takes maimum points, uncontested.

In the space of just a kilometre, the trio’s lead has been slashed by 30 seconds – by their own teammates!

More attacks coming behind them now. The race is on again!

Alberto Bettiol is the teammate with Healy, and the 2 EFs are also joined by Stevie Williams.

Now, this is an interesting move from EF Education-EasyPost. Despite having two men up the road, they’ve attacked with two more – Ben Healy and another.

160KM TO GO

1-57 is the gap. Could the race in the peloton ignite over these climbs? For now the gap remains too high for that to seem likely. 

The riders are on the first of the day’s climbs, the category three Côte de Vitteaux. It’s one of three in quick succession during this early phase of the race.

With only three men up the road, this isn’t developing into the breakaway day we had been expecting. We’ve just heard Powless tell Abrahamsen that he “would like to have more guys here.” It shouldn’t be hard for the peloton to control and bring back such a small group, even in this weather on such undulating terrain. 

The race might be in a settled situation, but that doesn’t mean it’s comfortable for the riders. There are lots of grim faces as they ride their way through the rain. I for one am happy to be watching this with a roof over my head.

170KM TO GO

2-15 now for the leaders. The pace is up a bit in the peloton, but it’s the sprinter teams Lotto-Dstny, Alpecin-Deceuninck and Intermarché – Wanty taking over – they’re riding to control the race, and ensure more moves don’t go away. 

Pacher has been brought back.

That includes Pacher, who is only ten seconds ahead of the peloton.

It’s two minutes already for the leading trio. It’s hard to see anyone bridging up to that.

The pace is slow enough for Pogačar to stop for a comfort break at the side of the road.

Still no action in the peloton, where the pace has been knocked off. It seems the appetite to get into the breakaway is much lower than expected.

There are no signs of any attacks coming out of the peloton. Could this be it already?

For now, Packer is closer to the peloton than the three riders ahead of him, who already have a lead of 30 seconds.

Quentin Pacher of Groupama-FDJ is in pursuit of the trio, having jumped out of the peloton.

Powless’ teammate Stefan Bissegger is also with them, and have formed a three-man group a few seconds ahead of the peloton. 

EF Education-EasyPost kick things off immediately, with Nelson Powless attacking with Uno-X’s Jonas Abrahamsen .

183KM TO GO

And they’re off!

Just 1km until the start! This will be much more exciting than previous days, when nobody tried to get into the break – we promise. 

Some riders are dropping back to remove some of the rain gear they’d had on at the start. They’re anticipating warming up very quickly once the racing gets going.

Despite the weather, Pogačar seemed in as good spirits as ever at the start. Here he is waving to the crowd while warming up.

Still 5km to go until the official. It’s a long neutralised zone today. The riders must be itching to get on with it and warm up.

They might be cold now, in the 16 degrees temperatures, but won’t be for long. With a decent chance of the breakaway succeeding today, we can expect a big fight from the flag to get in it – and so some pretty intense racing to warm up with.

They’ve set off from the start line, and await the official start.

A lot of grim faces as they wait at the neutralised start. They will not be looking forward to riding in this weather. 

We’re about five minutes away from the neutralised start. 

Then there’s the weather. It’s pouring at the start here in Semur-en-Auxois, which will add to the stress and complications, and make it hard to control.

As for today’s stage, it’s far from a straightforward sprinter’s day. Unlike the days that have ended in bunch sprints so far, there is much more climbing, with the road undulating throughout, amounting to over 2,000m elevation gain. And echelons are a possibility to, if the wind blows in the right direction.

One of the most heart-warming sights of the Tour so far came during the time trial yesterday when Julian Bernard stopped briefly to greet his family and friends. Exasperatingly, the jobsworths at the UCI fined him for it, but thankfully Bernard himself wasn’t too bothered, describing it as a “dream moment.”

And indeed, the Tour’s live broadcast of race sign-on paints a rainy image of the riders.

Follow the sign on video below.

We’re around one hour away from the stage start in Semur-en-Auxois, with Cyclingnews’ on-the-ground team reporting a rainy welcome to the start village.

Meanwhile, the drama surrounding Jasper Philipsen’s relegation on stage 6 continues as the Belgian rider spoke defensively about his sprint tactics in his column Het Belang van Limburg.

“After what happened on Thursday, I do feel targeted. Much worse things have happened in the past,” he said.

The team revealed that the Dane had been suffering through stage 6 and 7, but “it was in Mads’ best interest to stop racing in order to undergo more detailed examinations to assess his injuries further and give him the proper rest and recovery needed to focus on his remaining goals this summer and the final part of the season.”

Read our full story here.

It’s all drama already at the Tour, as second-place green jersey contener Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) has been forced to leave the race because of injuries sustained from his stage 5 crash.

Hello and welcome to Cyclingnews live coverage of stage 8 of the 2024 Tour de France!