The top five on General Classification
Jonas Vingegaard retains the yellow jersey with a lead of 25 seconds over Tadej Pogacar. Simon Yates’s crash five kilometres from home cost him 47 seconds and he drops from fourth to sixth on GC.
1. Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma) 34hr 09min 38sec
2. Tadej Pogacar (UAE Emirates) +25 sec
3. Jai Hindley (Bora-Hansgrohe) +1min 34sec
4. Carlos Rodriguez (Ineos Grenadiers) +3min 30sec
5. Adam Yates (UAE Emirates) +3min 40sec
Cavendish crashes out as Pedersen prevails
Stage eight report: Mark Cavendish crashed out of the Tour de France on stage eight from Libourne to Limoges, after suffering a suspected broken collarbone, with Danish sprinter Mads Pedersen taking his first stage win this year. Jeremy Whittle reports from Limoges …
An email: “I feel absolutely gutted for Mark Cavendish,” writes David Alderton. “He is superb, and I think he would have got one more win this year, and I reckon most thought it, too. Cycling is the most beautiful yet the cruellest sport.
“On collarbones, in 2003 Tyler Hamilton fractured his in a couple of places in the early stages, yet (I think) finished the Tour in the service of Lance Armstrong. He ground his teeth down, he says, as the pain was so bad.
“Speaking of the early 2000s and Armstrong, I’m really enjoying the duel between the Vingegaard and Pogacar on the climbs. It’s reminding me of the Armstrong and Pantani rivalry, but it seems much better natured. There’s apparently genuine respect there, and after the race everything gets put back in the box.”
Mark Cavendish: The Manx Missile was forced to pull out his final Tour de France, after crashing about 60 kilometres from the finish and appearing to fracturie his collarbone. Mads Pedersen, today’s stage winner, pays tribute to the great man.
“For me it was a pleasure to be able to race with Mark,” he says. “I always had a good relationship with him in the peloton and it’s so sad that such a legend has to finish the Tour like this. I wish all the best for Mark and hopefully I can do the last race he’s going to do as well, to honour a legend who is top in cycling.”
The sprint finish: Wout van Aert almost certainly should have won the stage but was forced to brake after getting boxed in behind his own teammate, Christophe Laporte in the closing stages. Laporte was on leadout duty for Van Aert, but failed to get out of his way once he’d finished his duties. Van Aert was forced to brake briefly before resuming his effort but despite a fine effort, he ran out of road before he could catch Pedersen and Philipsen. I suspect the atmosphere at the Jumbo-Visma dinner table could be frosty this evening.
General classification: Jonas Vingegaard retains the yellow jersey, while Simon Yates seems to have dropped two places to sixth in the GC following his crash five kilometres from the finish.
Mads Pedersen wins stage eight: On a day in which Mark Cavendish was forced to abandon the Tour, the Danish rider holds off Philipsen and Wout van Aert to win the stage in a time of 4hr 12min 26sec. Dylan Groenewegen was fourth.
Mads Pedersen wins the stage!
The Lidl-Trek rider wins the sprint despite the best attempts of Jasper Philipsen to nick it in the closing metres.
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1.5km to go: Wout van Aert, Jasper Phiilipsen, Mads Pedersen, Bryan Coquard, Julian Alaphilippe and Dylan Groenewegen are all well placed as we enter the final kilometre, which is uphill.
3km to go: Steff Crass (TotalEnergies) was involved in that crash in which Simon Yates hit the deck and has been forced to abandon.
4km to go: Jasper Philipsen is near the front of the bunch, surrounded by Alpecin-Deceuninck teammates.
6km to go: There’s another crash and Simon Yates, who is fourth in the General Classification, comes down. He remounts and sets off to try and rejoin the peloton.
6km to go: As the peloton tries to sort itself out ahead of the finish, Lotto-Dstny rider Victor Campenaerts tries a sneaky attack. He’s quickly reeled in.
8km to go: After a heroically doomed effort, Anthony Turgis sits up and is swallowed by the peloton. Chapeau that man.
9km to go: The riders of Jumbo-Visma are lined up at the front of the peloton, putting the hammer down and piling the hurt on the bunch in an effort to get rid of the pure sprinters to increase Wout van Aert’s chances of winning the stage. Alexander Kristoff and Phil Bauhaus have been dropped.
12km to go: Anthony Turgis hits the foot of the final climb of the day, the Category 4 Côte de Condat-sur-Vienne. It’s 289 metres high and 1.3km in length, with an average gradient of 5.4%.
15km to go: ANthony Turgis (TotalEnergies) is on his own in front with a lead of 38 seconds over the peloton. The road is wide and the riders of Jumbo-Visma, Lotto-Dstny and Uno-X are at the front of the chasing posse.
16km to go: In the breakaway, Anthony Turgis attacks and drops his two fellow riders, who are unable to keep up with him.
18km to go: If you’re just joining me for the ubnsinmess end of the stage, we have three leaders, Anthony Delaplace (Arkea), Anthony Turgis (TotalEnergies) and Tim Declercq (Soudal-Quick Step), out in front with a dwindling lead that is now down to 50 seconds. The sad news from today’s stage is that Mark Cavendish has been forced to abandon after crashing near the back end of of the peloton with 59 kilometres to go. He appeared to have broken his collarbone.
20km to go: Having been told his teammate has been caught by the peloton, Tim Declercq has started pulling his weight in the breakaway again. Anthony Delaplace is struggling a little to stay on his wheel.
21km to go: Jumbo-Visma’s Dylan van Baarle is doing another pull at the front of the peloton and they’ve reeled Kasper Asgreen back in. The gap to the three leaders is down to one minute.
26km to go: Kasper Asgreen has opened a lead of 20 seconds on the peloton, while the lead trio are 1min 42sec ahead of the bunch. Dylan Groenewegen’s Jayco-AlUla teammates are putting in the hard yards at the front of the peloton. In the leasd group, Declercq has stopped doing his turns on the front, all the better to help Asgreen, his teammate, bridge the gap between the peloton and the leaders.
32km to go: “Devastated for Cav here,” writesd Ali Kinnaird. “It wasn’t supposed to end this way but this will not overshadow his stupendous achievements. A cycling immortal and surely one of the greatest British sportspeople of all time.”
Fun fact: Cavendish did his first ever mainstream media interview with me ahead of his first Tour as a cocky young whippersnapper riding for the German T-Mobile team. I’d never heard of him at the time and had no idea how good he’d turn out to be but remember being very impressed with his self-assurance and good sense of humour.
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35km to go: The gap from the breakaway to the bunch is steadily coming down and is now at 1min 46sec. Asgreen is 10 seconds clear of the peloton.
37km to go: Soudal-Quick Step rider Kasper Asgreen attacks off the front of the peloton and opens a conspicuous gap of 10 seconds. His teammate Tim Declercq is already up the road in the breakaway.
39km to go: “I can’t stand the new green jersey,” writes Nick Honeywell. “The whole point of the jerseys for the leaders in the classifications is that they’re supposed to help them stand out from the rest of the peloton, and the drab green this year completely fails to do this. Bring back the unmissable lurid green jersey!
“I had similar complaints albeit from the other direction back when Jumbo-Visma raced in almost all-yellow jerseys, as that made it harder to spot the genuine yellow jersey.
“As for the points, I’m quite happy for pure sprinters to win it if they get the chance. I mean, isn’t the jersey for the rider who competes best across all terrain in the race the, er, yellow jersey?”
40km to go: With a stiff tailwind behind them, the peloton is being towed along by a teammate of Cofidis sprinter Bryan Coquard, another man who’ll have his eye on today’s prize. The gap is down to 2min 10sec and big news today is that Mark Cavendish has been forced to abandon the race.
45km to go: Anthony Delaplace (Arkea), Anthony Turgis (TotalEnergies) and Tim Declercq (Soudal-Quick Step) continue to wend their way towards Limoges, their lead at 2min 21sec.
48km to go: Lidl-Trek continue to make the pace at the front of a peloton that has just lost Mark Cavendish to what looks like a broken collarbone. He climbed into the back of a medical car looking quite dazed, turned down the offer of painkillers and the door was closed behind him. It’s an awful shame that he wasn’t able to finish his final Tour in Paris on his own terms.
53km to go: Anthony Delaplace (Arkea), Anthony Turgis (TotalEnergies) and Tim Declercq (Soudal-Quick Step) remain out in front with a lead of 2min 22sec.
55km to go: Following his near miss yesterday, Cavendish goes out of the race on the back of some absolutely rotten luck. He was motoring along near the back of the peloton, came down with five or six other riders and seems to have landed on his shoulder. It could scarcely have been more innocuous but it’s put an end to his final Tour de France. “It’s an absolute sickener,” says Rob Hatch on Eurosport and he’s not wrong.
💔 Mark... #TDF2023 pic.twitter.com/7CXUazZrbO
— Tour de France™ (@LeTour) July 8, 2023
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Mark Cavendish abandons the Tour de France!
58km to go: Looking extremely disconsolate, Cavendish climbs into the back of a medical van. That’s a heart-breaking way to finish his final Tour. He will end his career with 34 stage Tour wins, the joint record-holder with Eddy Merckx.
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59km to go: Cavendish is helped back to his feet and is walking around but has yet to remount his bike. He’s still holding his shoulder.
Mark Cavendish has crashed!
There’s a touch of wheels in the peloton and the Astana rider goes down with several others. He’s lying flat on his back in the road, holding his shoulder. I’m no doctor but the way he’s holding himself, it looks like he might have broken his collarbone. Hopefully that’s not the case.
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63km to go: Lidl-Trek riders Giulio Ciccone and Alex Kirsch are pulling the peloton along with the gap down to 2min 40sec. The riders of Jumbo-Visma are tucked in behind them, next to their rivals from Alpecin-Deceuninck.
66km to go: In the breakaway, Anthony Turgis was first over the climb, taking two KOM points, Tim Declercq followed him over and bagged one.
70km to go: The riders are making their way up the Côte de Champs-Romain, the first of theree categorised climbs on today’s route. The gap from the leading trio to the peloton is down to 2min 59sec.
73km to go: James in Amsterdam writes regarding the mini-controversy surrounding yesterday’s sprint finish. “I’m not seeing anything more than Philipsen moving across to grab Cavendish’s wheel,” he says. “Both Girmay and Philipsen wanted Cavendish’s wheel, Philipsen got it. That sort of move happens several times in the run up to every sprint finish and no way will the jury start handing out DSQs for that.
“Two riders wanting the same wheel, one insisting, one relinquishing is an essential and mundane part of the sport. Philipsen’s swerve didn’t impede anyone, cause anyone to brake or put anyone in danger. Therefore it was correctly not considered as a ‘foul’.”
I concur and would add that in his pre-stage interveiw this morning, Cavendish didn’t seem to have any beef with Philipsen or convey any sense of being hard done by. He blamed his defeat on a slipped gear.
75km to go: The riders of Mads Pedersen’s Lidl-Trek team are currently putting in the hard yards at the front of the peloton and the gap is at 3min 38sec. Giulio Ciccone is doing the donkey work at the front of the bunch.
78km to go: “I would be interested to hear from you and fellow readers if they prefer to see the green jersey point system won from sprint wins or consistent finishes,” writes Robin Lynch. “Although it is hard to begrudge Jasper Philippsen his commanding lead, I prefer to see the final jersey won by a rider who competes across all terrain (Sean Kelly, Peter Sagan, Michael Matthews, Wout Van Aert) and the current system of 50 points for a flat stage win makes it more likely that a dominant sprinter takes it. Although not impossible as we saw last year. I’m also keen to hear views on the new style maillot vert - it looks great on the podium but hard to pick out in the peloton. 6/10.”
I’m not a massive fan of the new green jersey, as I think the dark shade of green makes it look like a Bora Hansgrohe jersey.
85km to go: The gap from Declercq, Delaplace and Turgis back to the peloton is in to 3min 53sec and any hopes they have of winning this stage are looking more forlorn by the kilometre. It’s likely to be a hotly contested finish and there are no shortage of riders in the peloton who will fancy thewir chances. Wout van Aert, Jasper Philipsen, Binian Girmay, Mathieu van der Poel, Caleb Ewan and Mads Pedersen are among the favourites.
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🌻🌻🌻 🌻🌻🌻 🌻🌻🌻🌻
— Tour de France™ (@LeTour) July 8, 2023
🌻 🌻 🌻 🌻
🌻 🌻 🌻 🌻🌻🌻
🌻 🌻 🌻 🌻
🌻 🌻🌻🌻 🌻… pic.twitter.com/wWgj8b3NsF
95km to go: “US coverage just spent a good 4-5 minutes analyzing yesterday’s sprint and the complaints that were filed by the teams of Mark Cavendish and Biniam Girmay,” writes Alex Whitney. “I’m not a competitive cyclist, and am definitely too faint of heart for a sprint, but it seemed pretty clear that there wasn’t a crash solely because Girmay made a choice to not let Philipsen embroil him in one.”
97km to go: Mathiu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck), for whom the finish of today’s stage looks tailor made, drops back to his team car for some refreshments and a pow-wow with one of the occupants. Further up the road in the lead trio, Tim Declercq collects an energy bar from his team car.
99km to go: Jumbo-Visma’s Dylan van Baarle is towing the peloton along at 47km per hour. The gap is hovering around the four-minute mark.
100km to go: Therte are three categorised climbs in today’s stage, the first of which crops up in 30 kilometres. It’s the Category 3 Cote de Champs-Romain. It’s three kilometres in length and 303 metres high with an average gradient of 5.2 per cent. The two remaining climbs are at the business end of the stage.
103km to go: Anthony Delaplace (Arkea) is doing his turn at the front of the breakaway, with Anthony Turgis (TotalEnergies) and Tim Declercq (Soudal-Quick Step) behind him. The gap is 4min 03sec.
Intermediate sprint result
1. Anthony Delaplace (20 points)
2. Anthony Turgis 17
3. Tim Declercq 154. Jasper Philipsen 13
5. Jordi Meeus 11
6. Danny van Poppel 10
7. Mark Cavendish 9
8. Bryan Coquard 8
9. Corbin Strong 7
10. Biniam Girmay 6
11. Jonas Abrahamsen 5
12. Jonas Rickaert 4
13. Cees Bol 3
14. Mathieu van der Poel 2
15. Alexey Lutsenko 1
Quick update on @JasperPhilipsen's legs... He just hit 73.3km/h to dominate his rivals in the intermediate sprint#TDFdata #TDF2023 pic.twitter.com/1HvgahmldW
— letourdata (@letourdata) July 8, 2023
113km to go: Led by the riders of Jumbo-Visma, who will be hoping for a Wout van Aert stage win today, the peloton reel in the rebel sprinter alliance, who are forced to give up their advantage. Our lead trio of Anthony Delaplace (Arkea), Anthony Turgis (TotalEnergies) and Tim Declercq (Soudal-Quick Step) have a lead of 4min 33sec.
116km to go: The sprinters keep on sprinting and open a gap on the bunch. It’s an Astana move and they’ve got Mark Cavendish and Yevgeniy Federov in the group. Mathieu van der Poel, Bryan Coquard and Jasper Philipsen are also up there in this chase group of about a dozen riders.
118km to go: The peloton are one kilometre from the intermediate sprint. Alpecin–Deceuninck try to lead out Jasper Philipsen and it looks like he beat Bora Hansgrohe’s Jordi Meeus over the line by a whisker.
Key event
121km to go: The lead trio pass under the banner marking the intermediate sprint at Tocane-Saint-Apre. Anthony Delaplace nicks it from Tim Declercq on the line, earning himself 20 points and €1,500 for the team kitty.
128km to go: The gap approaches five minutes. Alpecin–Deceuninck have a rider on the front of the peloton, followed by a colleague from Intermarche-Circus-Wanty, with the eight riders of Ineos Grenadiers lined up in single file behind him.
137km to go: The breakaway have covered three kilometres more than the bunch and lead by 4min 43sec.
143km to go: The gap between our three leaders and the bunch is at 4min 18sec. Alpecin–Deceuninck are making the pace at the front of the peloton.
152km to go: Tim “El Tractor” Declercq tows the lead trio along, while Lilian Calmejane |(Intermarché–Circus–Wanty) makes the pace back in the peloton. The gap is 4min 14sec.
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158km to go: Anthony Delaplace (Arkea), Anthony Turgis (TotalEnergies) and Tim Declercq (Soudal-Quick Step) extend their lead to four minutes.
166km to go: The gap between our lead trio and the bunch is out to 1min 35sec. At the back of the bunch, Torstein Træen (Uno-X) is still receiving treatment from the medical car, who have wrapped a bandage around his right knee to go with the one he’s already sporting on his left, the legacy of a previous crash.
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171km to go: Our lead trio have a lead of 23 seconds as a number of riders, including Tom Pidcock (Ineos Grenadiers) break ranks from the peloton in a bid to join them.
174km to go: Anthony Delaplace (Arkea), Anthony Turgis (TotalEnergies) and Tim Declercq (Soudal-Quick Step) have opened a gap of 38 seconds on the bunch. Declercq went first and the otherr two jumped across to join him. At the back of the bunch, Alexey Lutsenko (Astana) is playing catch-up after puncturing his back wheel.
178km to go: Costa Rican rider Andrey Amador (EF Education EasyPost) darts off the front of the bunch but is immediately pegged back.
181km to go: Already sporting a bandage on his left knee from a previous spill, Torstein Træen (Uno-X) crashes on a road divider. He hobbles back to his bike and remounts. The medics pull up alongside him and perform some rolling repairs on his left elbow.
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Withdrawals and abandonments: We’ve only lost four riders in the opening seven stages. Team leaders Enric Mas (Movistar) and Richard Carapaz (EF Education EasyPost) sustained race-ending injuries on the opening stage this day last week, while Luis Leon Sanchez (Astana) and Jacobo Guarnieri (Lotto Dstny) crashed out in the closing stages of stage four. The peloton is 172 riders strong.
189km to go: Edvald Boasson Hagan (TotalEnergies) has an escape plot foiled and is reeled in. The peloton remains intact. Julian Alaphilippe (Soudal–Quick-Step) is towing them along.
196km to go: It’s been a fast start with plenty of riders trying to get in the as yet unformed breakaway. The profile of today’s stage means that anyone who can get away from the bunch will fancy their chances of winning.
197km to go: We have three riders in front with a very slender lead, four more behind them and the peloton a couple of seconds back in hot pursuit. They’re travelling at 63km per hour.
They're off and racing on stage eight ...
Prudhomme semaphores the signal to begin racing and a number of riders try to sprint away from the bunch. Ben Turner (Ineos Grenadiers) and Stefan Kung (Groupama–FDJ) are among them.
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Not long now: The peloton is tightly packed behing race director Christian Prudhomme’s car as they approach the end of the neutral zone.
They’re rolling out. The riders have set off and are pedalling their way through the early stages of a neutral zone in Libourne that is 4.5 kilometres in length.
Christian Prudhomme on today’s stage: “One sprint may follow another, but they’re not necessarily the same,” writes the Tour director. “Limoges could produce some surprises as the day’s finish will certainly suit the most explosive sprinters, those capable of powering up a short but difficult climb to claim victory.”
Who's wearing what?
Yellow jersey: Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma) 29hr 57min 12sec
Green jersey: Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin–Deceuninck) 215 points
Polka-dot jersey: Neilson Powless (EF Education-EasyPost) 36 points
White jersey: Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) 29hr 57min 37sec
Cavendish denied as Philipsen completes hat-trick
Stage seven report: Mark Cavendish came agonisingly close to a record 35th stage success, only to suffer a mechanical failure and see victory snatched from his grasp by Jasper Philipsen.
Stage eight: Libourne to Limoges (200.7km)
William Fotheringham on today’s stage: A second bunch sprint on paper, but there’s a twist: this is a long stage, and the final 70km offer little respite, being constantly up and down. It will be a tough one to control, so teams without sprinters will fancy their chances in a break. The tough finale favours a strongman such as Mathieu van der Poel or his Alpecin–Deceuninck teammate Søren Kragh Andersen.
