Stage 8 - Semur-en-Auxois to Colombey-les-Deux-Églises (183.5km) - Saturday, July 6
Sandwiched between an individual time trial and the first gravel stage in Tour history, Saturday’s Stage 8 could be sneakily exciting as the sprinters’ teams battle with the Tour’s breakaway specialists to try and win the stage.
The 183.5km stage begins in Semur-en-Auxois–a town in Burgundy that’s hosting the Tour de France for just the second time–and then heads east, where the riders will tackle three of the day’s five categorized climbs in the first hour of racing.
Expect Norway’s Jonas Abrahamsen (Uno-X Mobility)–who currently wears the polka dot jersey as the leader of the Tour’s King of the Mountains competition–to be aggressive in defending it. With six points available over these first three climbs, he can possibly put the jersey out of reach from anyone hoping to steal it before the Tour’s first Rest Day.
A breakaway should have escaped by the time the race passes through the Intermediate Sprint in Lamargelle–59km into the stage–but expect the Tour’s green jersey contenders to fight for whatever points might be left after the break passes through. Eritrea’s Biniam Girmay (Intermarché-Wanty)–who wears the jersey as the leader of the Tour’s Points competition–has stated his desire to defend it through the end of the Tour, so he’ll be looking to scoop up more points in Lamargelle if he can.
From Lamargelle, the stage continues north toward the finish in Colombey-les-Deux-Églises, bouncing along a twisting, jagged route that could give an advantage to the breakaway by making it harder for the sprinters’ teams to work together at the front of the peloton to set a steady tempo.
The riders will crest the last of the day’s five categorized climbs–the Category 4 Côte de Giey-su-Aujon–about 61km from the finish line. At this point we’ll have a good idea as to whether or not the breakaway stands a chance of going all the way. The weather might help their chances: it’s expected to be rainy–which might dampen the peloton’s motivation–and they’ll have a tailwind throughout much of the stage–which will help them stay away.
But the wind direction should change about 23km from the finish–once the race passes through the town of Bologne. At this point the course makes a hard left turn and the tailwind the riders have enjoyed becomes a cross/headwind. This will shift the advantage from the break to the peloton during the final 20km.
The finish line itself comes at the end of a long straight drag into Colombey-les-Deux-Églises, with no corners inside the final 9km. This further helps the sprinters’ teams as they will be able to see the break up the road ahead of them. An organized peloton can gain about a minute per ten kilometers, and that’s at least what anyone hoping to thwart the sprinters will need to win the day with 10km to go.
Slovenia’s Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) should have no trouble defending the yellow jersey. But this will be a tricky stage, with technical roads and rain in the forecast. His team will need to keep him at the front of the bunch and out of harm’s way, possibly cooperating with the sprinters’ teams to keep their leader safe.
Riders to Watch
Stage 8 reminds us of two stages late in last year’s Tour de France, stages that looked like good days for the sprinters but ended up going to the breakaway. We wouldn’t be surprised if history repeats itself on Stage 8, with riders like Great Britain’s Fred Wright (Bahrain Victorious), Italy’s Alberto Bettiol (EF Education-EasyPost), and Denmark’s Magnus Cort (Uno-X Mobility) the kind of guys who could hold off the peloton and win the stage.
If they do, the gap to the chasing peloton won’t be huge, especially with Alpecin-Deceuninck still trying to get Belgium's Jasper Philipsen his first stage win in this year’s Tour. If the catch is made, it could be a reduced peloton that does it, which means Philipsen’s toughest competition will likely come from Girmay, Denmark’s Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek), and Belgium’s Arnaud De Lie (Lotto Dstny).
How to Watch Stage 8 of the Tour de France
You can stream Stage 8 of the 2024 Tour de France on NBC’s Peacock ($5.99/month or $59.99/year). If you’re looking for ad-free coverage, you’ll need a subscription to Peacock Premium Plus, which runs $11.99 per month or $119.99 for the year.
On paper, Stage 8 looks like another day for the Tour’s field sprinters. But with 2,000m of elevation gain throughout the stage, a breakaway could make it all the way to the finish line. The stage is expected to finish around 11:30 a.m. EDT. But with a tailwind expected throughout much of the day (at least according to current forecasts), we might tune-in around 10:50 a.m. EDT so that we’re watching as the course turns left toward the finishing town and the wind direction changes.
Since getting hooked on pro cycling while watching Lance Armstrong win the 1993 U.S. Pro Championship in Philadelphia, longtime Bicycling contributor Whit Yost has raced on Belgian cobbles, helped build a European pro team, and piloted that team from Malaysia to Mont Ventoux as an assistant director sportif. These days, he lives with his wife and son in Pennsylvania, spending his days serving as an assistant middle school principal and his nights playing Dungeons & Dragons.
