TDF: Stage 8 – Win for Peters

The first day in the Pyrenees saw a big break stick and from that, Nans Peters won the stage solo; in the GC battle, Pogacar took time back after his loss in the crosswinds yesterday; Adam Yates leads

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TDF: Stage 8 – Win for Peters

The first day in the Pyrnees saw a big break stick and from that, Nans Peters won the stage solo; in the GC battle, Pogacar took time back after his loss in the crosswinds yesterday; Adam Yates leads

The year after he opened his Grand Tour record book by winning a mountain stage at the Giro d’Italia, France’s Nans Peters soloed to victory over the col de Peyresourde to impose himself at Loudenvielle. Thibaut Pinot cracks and loses time.

A peloton of 172 riders started stage 8 in Cazères-sur-Garonne. The attacks started after just two kilometres when Benoît Cosnefroy and Nans Peters (AG2R-La Mondiale), Ilnur Zakarin (CCC), Kevin Reza and Quentin Pacher (B&B Hotels-Vital Concept), Michael Morkov (Deceuninck-Quick Step), Neilson Powless (EF), Fabien Grellier and Jérôme Cousin (Total Direct Energie), Carlos Verona (Movistar), Toms Skujins (Trek-Segrafredo), Soren Kragh Andersen (Sunweb) and Ben Hermans (Israel Start-Up Nation) formed a 13-man breakaway group at km 4.

Cousin won the intermediate sprint at Sengouagnet, km 42.5, where Peter Sagan missed out on the two points available for the riders of the peloton. The maximum time gain for the breakaway was was 14’15″ after just 46 kilometres.

Cosnefroy increased his advantage in the King of the Mountains competition as he crested col de Menté (km 59.5) in the lead. Romain Bardet (AG2R-La Mondiale) meanwhile crashed on the climb but made it back quickly to the pack. The gap to the breakaway was reduced to 11’30″ at the summit.

On the following climb, the Port de Balès, Cousin rode away from the breakaway with 60km remaining on stage 8 but it was a short lived freedom as he was reeled in 9km before the top of Port de Balès. Peters, Zakarin and Pacher replaced him at the front of the race while Jumbo-Visma seized the reins of the peloton.

Thibaut Pinot (Groupama-FDJ) was the first top contender for the GC dropped from the bunch. Out front meanwhile, Peters crested Port de Balès in first position with 36.5km to go, along with Zakarin but the Russian could not follow the Frenchman on the downhill.

Peters started the ascent of the Col de Peyresourde with an advantage of 45″ over his rival for the stage win. Up the mountain, Tom Dumoulin (Jumbo-Visma) pulled the GC group along but Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) was first to attack, followed by Primoz Roglic and Nairo Quintana (Arkea-Samsic). Pogacar went again, so did Roglic (Jumbo-Visma) and Quintana at the beginning of the downhill.

While Peters kept his advantage to win stage 8, the yellow jersey group regrouped behind Pogacar who reduced his deficit on GC. Bardet did manage to gain two seconds to move up but Yates remained in the yellow jersey and Roglic was obviously happy to stay in second place.

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Reactions

Adam Yates: “It was a really tough day, in then beginning we let the break go, it was a good breakaway, I think the first guy was 17 minutes down, so it was easy for us to control. Then later on in the stage Jumbo-Visma came up and started pushing the pace real hard, and they rode pretty much full gas from when they got on the front until the finish. In the end I did my thing, tried to stay with the best guys and in the end, here we are.

Photo: Pauline Ballett (ASO)

“Dumoulin set a ferocious pace and I just couldn’t hold the wheel, I had to ride at my own pace a little bit, so I could collect myself. I clawed my way back and over the top I manged to stay with the guys, so like I said before, all-in-all a good day. Tomorrow is a very similar stage, if we can hold on for another day, the day after that is the rest day, so hopefully we can hold on until then. Who knows what’s going to happen?”

Matt White (Head Sports Director Mitchelton Scott): “Today was the first big, big challenge for everyone. We’ve had some climbs before, but this was the business here, this was a very stereotypical Pyrenean day. It had a bit of everything, and we’ve come out of it with the yellow jersey and it’s great for the team and obviously for Adam.

“This certainly wasn’t the plan [to take the yellow jersey], but we’re going to take it with two hands and run with it. The big picture, that doesn’t change, so while we’re in the yellow jersey it’s something we want to keep, it’s the most prestigious jersey in our sport.

“We’ll be running a similar plan tomorrow to keep that jersey. Then we’ve got a rest day and a few flatter days before the next set of mountains, so one day at a time. But the plan coming here, that still doesn’t change, we want to win stages.”

Primoz  Roglic: “It was not an easy stage”, Roglic said. “The team has shown once again today that it is very strong. During the penultimate climb Dumoulin indicated that he would work for the team because he did not feel great. He did an excellent job, because due to his work the group quickly got smaller and smaller. It was a strong pull. We try to do our best every day to achieve the highest. I am still in a good position and the Tour takes another two weeks. Anything can happen.”

George Bennett: “There will be enough mountain stages in the next two weeks. It is not necessary to gain time every day. You also have to divide your strengths and energy. The plan was to shake things up a bit on the Balès and put some pressure on. Unfortunately, Sepp paid the price a bit for his hard work in yesterday’s crosswinds. And to be honest, I am not completely one-hundred percent fit either after my crash in Nice. But I expect to be back to my old self in a few days. It was a strong team performance today. Especially Wout, Robert, Tony and Amund were outstanding and Primoz is still in a good position. Tom wasn’t feeling great. What he did for the team today also proves that he is not only a leader, but also a team player. He easily puts his own interests aside for the interest of the team. We have a goal and that is to win the Tour and it will remain the same after today. The team is in a good flow and we have a lot of confidence in it.”

Egan Bernal: “It’s been a very fast day. We thought there would be some tension but we didn’t foresee this much. It hasn’t stopped all day. In the finale, we’ve seen the opportunity and we took advantage of it to split the bunch. I think it’s something good: the Tour de France is also won in stages like this one, you have to use all terrains. My team did a perfect job. Tomorrow and after tomorrow we have two complicated. We’ve just had two hard stages. Tomorrow, it’ll be a GC day for sure. We’ll have to be very focused, try and not lose any time, take the opportunity if there’s any, and if not, stay quiet.”

Nans Peters: “This is crazy. It was already something unbelievable to win a stage on my first participation to the Giro d’Italia last year and now it’s the same at the Tour de France. I told myself why not trying at the Tour too. It was a dream and I made it! I knew Zakarin was stronger than me up the climbs but I never gave up. I convinced myself to not crack. I had seen in the downhill of Port de Balès that he descended like a goat so I was confident to beat him in the finale of the stage. I had no ear piece, so the only info I had were by looking back. Only 2km to go I thought that I was going to win.”

Pogačar: “I saw that the other guys were looking at each other and everyone was on the limit, I had the chance to attack and I went full gas for the last 5 km to the top. In the downhill I tried to go as deep as I could and at the end I had 40″ of advantage, so it was a good day for me. Tomorrow will be another hard day, we will see day by day how we face each stage”.

Benoît Cosnefroy: “My idea was to get two points at the top of the first climb at km 9. I got them but in a more difficult manner than I expected. I’ve had to fight hard in front of Bora-Hansgrohe. We’ve raced hard all day. I couldn’t do anything once I got caught in the green jersey group. I’m disappointed with my performance because I could have helped Romain [Bardet] and I wasn’t up there. There’s a big day ahead of us tomorrow. I have to recover from today’s stage first.”

Toms Skujins (2nd): I wanted to get in the break to help the team later on, and to pass that terrible climb that I never want to do again. I’ve heard that the Port de Balès is a really beautiful climb, but unfortunately, I didn’t see anything. All I could see was my front wheel. We got so much time that we knew we would be playing for the victory.

Carlos Verona (3rd): “We’ve been able to at least stay in the mix, both into my breakaway and the GC group, and despite Enric losing a bit of time in the end, it’s a stage to be moderately optimistic about. We knew it would be a difficult day, one when it counted much to have people going into the breakaway in case you needed some help at the climbs, and so we got ourselves into that move. Eventually, the peloton let us gain a big gap and I could contest the stage win. I felt good legs all day long, even if seeing yourself always so close to the leaders and not being able to finally bridge back and contest the win outright leaves you a bittersweet taste. As I said, I’m happy with my performance and with the team’s overall effort today.”

Ilnur Zakarin: “I had this stage in my head as one to try on. We knew we wanted to send someone in the breakaway and in the meeting before the race, we spoke about me going for it. I tried and I made it. I felt good and I was climbing well but for me, descending is a big problem. I know it and it is my problem. They were fast descents and I tried but Nans Peter was also really strong today so congratulations to him.”

Miguel Angel Lopez: I am happy to stay with the best riders until the end and to finish in the group of leaders. It was an exhausting stage, for sure, with three demanding climbs. Also, the pace on the second half of the stage was really high and challenging. But, I felt pretty well and the team did a good job for me. In the decisive moment I still had Harold Tejada and Gorka Izagirre next to me, while later there were only the race favorites in our group. I tried to stay calm and to keep on going on my own rhythm. Indeed, there were many attacks in the final, but I was able to follow it, also on the descent. So, everything went well, but the new hard day is coming tomorrow. I am going to continue this race day by day and we will see how the things will go ahead”

Nairo Quintana: “The legs are good, and the signals are positive. I tried to leave several times at the end of the stage, but the other leaders always came back to the groups to which I belonged. I finished, in Loudenvielle, in the company of the riders who are fighting for the general classification. My rivals are very strong. My goal is to continue to be ahead in their company. I also have a thought for Diego Rosa, who fell on this stage, and who unfortunately has to leave the Tour this evening. ”

Romain Bardet: “It’s a great day for the team. First breakaway on the Tour and first victory, Nans was able to score. He is opportunistic and has no complexes. My record is a bit mixed because I took a big hit on the knee from a bad fall and it is painful. ”

Emanuel Buchmann: “When the attacks started in the final climb, I wasn’t feeling well and couldn’t respond to the attacks. So, I went on my own pace in order to limit my losses. It’s not what I wanted, but it looks like I still haven’t fully recovered from my crash. I can only take it day by day and hope that my shape will come back again. The team did a good job today, the most important aspect was to be in a good position in the penultimate climb, and that worked well. In the final climb, everybody was alone and it was up to each one’s legs. I simply didn’t have the legs today to follow.”

Thibaut Pinot: “It (his back) has been a hassle since Saturday. I was hanging on to yesterday’s stage at the Orcières-Merlette stage, where I had seen some encouraging signs,” Thibaut sighed. But other than that, it had been a hassle since Saturday. My back hurts so much that I don’t have the strength to pedal”.

RESULT STAGE 8
1. Nans Peters AG2R La Mondiale 04:02:12
2. Toms Skujins Trek-Segafredo @ 47
3. Carlos Verona Movistar Team @ 47
4. Ilnur Zakarin CCC Team @ 01:09
5. Neilson Powless EF Pro Cycling @ 01:41
6. Ben Hermans Israel Start-Up Nation @ 03:42
7. Quentin Pacher B&B Hotels-Vital Concept @ 03:42
8. Søren Kragh Andersen Team Sunweb @ 04:04
9. Tadej Pogacar UAE Team Emirates @ 06:00
10. Romain Bardet AG2R La Mondiale @ 06:38
11. Miguel Angel Lopez Astana Pro Team @ 06:40
12. Adam Yates Leader jersey Mitchelton-Scott @ 06:40
13. Egan Bernal Youth jersey INEOS Grenadiers @ 06:40
14. Mikel Landa Bahrain-McLaren @ 06:40
15. Guillaume Martin Cofidis @ 06:40
16. Primoz Roglic Team Jumbo – Visma @ 06:40
17. Nairo Quintana Team Arkea-Samsic @ 06:40
18. Rigoberto Uran EF Pro Cycling @ 06:40
19. Richie Porte Trek-Segafredo @ 06:40
20. Enric Mas Movistar Team @ 07:18

22. Bauke Mollema Trek-Segafredo @ 07:18
23. Richard Carapaz INEOS Grenadiers @ 07:18
24. Pierre Rolland B&B Hotels-Vital Concept @ 07:18
25. Emanuel Buchmann Bora-Hansgrohe @ 07:43
29. Alejandro Valverde Movistar Team @ 08:47
30. Tom Dumoulin Team Jumbo – Visma @ 08:47
31. Hugh Carthy EF Pro Cycling @ 08:47
38. Julian Alaphilippe Deceuninck-Quick Step @ 18:07
45. Fabio Aru UAE Team Emirates @ 19:44
64. Thibaut Pinot Groupama-FDJ @ 25:23
89. Daniel Martin Israel Start-Up Nation @ 25:23
120. Luke Rowe INEOS Grenadiers @ 32:39
130. Connor Swift Team Arkea-Samsic @ 32:39
135. Jack Bauer Mitchelton-Scott @ 32:39
140. Peter Sagan Point jersey Bora-Hansgrohe @ 32:39

Overall
1. Adam Yates Mitchelton-Scott 34:44:52
2. Primoz Roglic Team Jumbo – Visma @ 03
3. Guillaume Martin Cofidis @ 09
4. Romain Bardet AG2R La Mondiale @ 11
5. Egan Bernal INEOS Grenadiers @ 13
6. Nairo Quintana Team Arkea-Samsic @ 13
7. Miguel Angel Lopez Astana Pro Team @ 13
8. Rigoberto Uran EF Pro Cycling @ 13
9. Tadej Pogacar UAE Team Emirates @ 48
10. Enric Mas Movistar Team @ 01:00
11. Emanuel Buchmann Bora-Hansgrohe @ 01:25
12. Mikel Landa Bahrain-McLaren @ 01:34
13. Richie Porte Trek-Segafredo @ 01:34
14. Bauke Mollema Trek-Segafredo @ 02:12
15. Tom Dumoulin Team Jumbo – Visma @ 02:20
16. Esteban Chaves Mitchelton-Scott @ 02:37
17. Richard Carapaz INEOS Grenadiers @ 02:40
18. Damiano Caruso Bahrain-McLaren @ 02:40
19. Alejandro Valverde Movistar Team @ 02:41
20. Sergio Higuita EF Pro Cycling @ 02:48

22. Hugh Carthy EF Pro Cycling @ 07:52
26. Julian Alaphilippe Deceuninck-Quick Step @ 11:42
30. Thibaut Pinot Groupama-FDJ @ 18:56



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