Binion Garmay speaks: “It’s unbelievable to win two times. I am so proud. That’s why I won, I prefer this kind of sprint. If it’s flat they can push more watts. They can use their weight. I felt supergood – before it was the weather. We came really fast. When they started the leadout I knew it was going to be our day. A really good fight with Philipsen and then I won. The first thing I was treally proud to win in the green jersey. Absolutely perfect, it’s almost done now.”
5. Marijn van den Berg (NED) EF Education - EasyPost
6. Ryan Gibbons (RSA) Lidl - Trek
7. Anthony Turgis (FRA) TotalEnergies
8. Fred Wright (GBR) Bahrain Victorious
9. Alex Aranburu (ESP) Movistar Team
10. Remco Evenepoel (BEL) Soudal - Quick-Step
4.34pm BST
The others might have thought they had it but Garmay won that with panache, set up beautifully and one of the most popular riders around wins again. The green jersey becomes him, and such patience shown up the hill, all the while his team waited for the others to shoot their bolt. His power did the rest. Jasper Philipsen thought he had recovered from being off the road just a few kilometres back.
Updated at 4.35pm BST
4.31pm BST
Biniam Garmay wins the eighth stage, his second!
Coquard goes through, and takes it up and in comes Philipssen but Biniam Garmay waits his turn and takes it through for a second stage win for the Eritrean. He is too strong for them at the finish!
Updated at 4.32pm BST
4.29pm BST
1km to go: So many chances, and the trains get in shape. It looks like every man for himself, too. Intermarche seem to have their train ready.
4.28pm BST
2km to go: Bryan Coquard is prominent as they shape for this final ramp. Sam Bennett in a healthy position, too.
4.27pm BST
3km to go: It’s straight bar a slight bend and a couple of riders have gone off on to the grass.
4.26pm BST
4km: De Lie and Demare, two Arnauds suited to this course are well placed. Pogacar is in the pack too. Will he have a dig over that ramp finish?
4.25pm BST
5km to go: EF Education are asking their riders to put the sprinters under but the headwind is stopping anyone putting the hammer down. It’s the whole pack spread across the road.
4.20pm BST
8km to go: Wout van Aert is doing his turn on the front, the suggestion he is working for teammate Christope Laporte of his Jumbo-Visma team. Cavendish is in the pack, and well set up.
4.18pm BST
10km to go: Elsewhere in the world of professional cycling comes some very sad news. It will be a sombre night among the riders once the news is widespread.
4.15pm BST
Abrahamsen is caught
14km to go: And finally, the Norwegian drops back. He’s led the race for 185km today and been in the breakaway for over a third of the race overall. He drops back and back in the field, and that ploughs on.
4.12pm BST
15km to go: The bravery of Abrahamsen, who keeps pedalling on and on as the pack closes as he attacks the first of these uncategorised climbs. He stays out in front as the teams start to group together. Mark Cavenidsh is well placed, four rows back.
4.09pm BST
16km to go: It’s a case of the leading teams leaving Abrahamsen as some kind of marionette off the front. EF Energy’s radio man – Charly Wegelius - is telling his team that their route to a stage win is to make this bit harder for everyone is to attack the next two climbs.
4.05pm BST
18km to go: Another climb and one that might break what’s left of Abrahamsen, whose advantage drops under 30 seconds. Colombey-les-Deux-Églises looks relatively dry.
4.03pm BST
Just 20km to go
20km to go: Time’s nearly up for Abrahamsen, they can see him up the road. Evenpoel, yesterdays’ winner, is to the fore. Team UAE are there for Pogacar, who may fancy that hilltop finish. Cavendish is back in the pack, and perhaps poised. Team Ineos are active, and their radio man tells the team “don’t get flicked”.
Updated at 4.03pm BST
3.57pm BST
25km to go: Splits in the pack as EF Education and Jumbo-Visma take up the pace. Pogacar seems a little isolated in the pack. His team are mostly climbers, brought in to deal with Vingegaard. A. General de Gaulle is carved into a local hill. The gap to poor Abrahamsen drops ever down towards a minute. The pace has dropped Michael Matthews and Alexander Kristoff to the back.
3.50pm BST
30km to go: Bit of action in the peloton here, as they travel through the Marne valley, the city of Bologne. The road is soggy, lots of clouds of moisture, 62 km/h and the gap closes to under two minutes, even as they whip round a series of sharp bends. The wind is whipping in.
3.45pm BST
35km to go: Abrahamsen has been going since Kilometre Zero, though he’s going to be way short of the record: “In 1947 Albert Bourlon won a Tour de France stage with the longest solo breakaway of all time – 253km.”
He lived to the age of 96, too, died only in 2013.
Updated at 3.50pm BST
3.41pm BST
40km to go: The skies are grey but the sun peeks out as the pack’s deficit drops under three minutes. This has been one hell of a ride from Abrahamsen.
3.28pm BST
50km to go as Abrahamsen forges on
50km to go: The word from near the finish is of wind and rain. That adds the possibility of crosswinds and echelons. Lotto’s Arnaud De Lie, the young Belgian champion who likes a hilltop finish, is the tip among the shrewdies, the stage resembles one of those Belgian classics. Abrahamsen will forge on and on in the meantime.
Updated at 3.29pm BST
3.19pm BST
55km to go: Feels like all sides are settling in for the final push. At four minutes, Abrahamsen’s advantage is a little too small to hold on to. The finish is up a small hill, which may favour the one-day riders rather than pure sprinters.
Updated at 3.39pm BST
3.15pm BST
60km to go: They are closing to 4’ 15” now, as he hits the final categorised climb, taking the point on offer and he will soon be amid some winds. Mark Renshaw on the Astana radio tells his team the terrain will get easier beyond the climb. Do Cav’s team fancy another heist? The Manx man will be used to the wet.
3.06pm BST
65min to go: The wind picking up a tad but the course is through woodland so the impact of that would be negligible. The gap is dropping to 5’ or so. Abrahamsen will land the combativity prize as well as all those polka points. Warren Barguill has fallen off, and will get a new bike. He’s got a few cuts and bruises to cope with. The sprint teams are back in the pack, as is Thomas. So, a blanket finish can be expected, too.
2.58pm BST
70km to go: Maybe the peloton is chipping into Abrahamsen now. Geraint Thomas – oddly – has dropped off the back, and he’s behind Alexander Kristoff, too, who is 30 seconds ahead of him but also off the back.
Updated at 3.25pm BST
2.47pm BST
80km to go: Sam Bennett’s made a bike change, and at the bottom of that small hill. He’s one who could be in the mix at the close. Abrahamsen will be in polka come what may until Wednesday. Saint-Paul-Trois-Châteaux to SuperDévoluy in the Alps is where the real quiz begins. Bennett drops 30 seconds off the back of the peloton so has work to do.
2.37pm BST
86km to go: The Abrahamsen train continues, and he is heading towards another mountain point. The peloton seems to be saving gas, and the gap is being kept to 6’ 00”. The chase is on as he climbs a fourth category hill of about a kilometre. He blazes over and begins another descent.
2.23pm BST
100km to go: John Little gets in touch: “Afternoon Mr Brewin, Mr Preston may be right for the pros, as an amateur my time trials involved me going flat out and then my DS coming up with ever more fanciful excuses why I had, again, failed to make the cut. Never tried the ‘family meeting’ idea tho, you live and learn. Peace, John ( on behalf of Fewer Owls)“.
Abrahamsen being away has created an odd dynamic. Can he stay away? He’s making quite a reputation for himself at Le Tour.
FACT: “Abrahamsen gained 20kg and subsequently gained 6cm in height after under eating earlier in his career.”
In an interview with the Cycling Podcast, he said this: ““When I started cycling it was very popular to be very skinny. All my favourite riders were very skinny and I was looking up to them. I was always hoping to be 60 kilo but that was hard especially because I was always hungry. I had to do something to be better. I know my muscles do better when they get more fuel, so I started to fuel more. I gained some weight, 20 kilo, and after that I feel strong and stronger every year.”
He’s currently 78kg, 183cm-tall – 12 stone and 3, and six feet, and blasting through the French campagne.
2.12pm BST
105km to go: Mark gets in touch: “William Preston is correct. I spent yesterday at the stage & it was clearly evident many riders were not trying hard. The 10 seconds the day before watching the peloton race by was just as entertaining. Whist it good to see individual riders close up, I am slowly coming to the conclusion TT (both types) are increasingly mundane. I’ll be glued to the TV for Stage 21, of course.”
Some very nice scenery as the pack flies past ploughed fields and past a historic church, Église de l’Assomption du Chalard.
2.04pm BST
110km to go: Jonas Abrahamsen is 6’10” clear now, riding a cracker. He takes to some narrow, winding country rounds that could cause traffic problems in the peloton.
Updated at 2.15pm BST
1.50pm BST
120km to go: In the sprint chase, Biniam Girmay, already a stage winner this year, takes the spare points. He’s been riding beautifully. Jasper Philipsen seemed to give up the ghost in that chase.
Updated at 1.51pm BST
1.47pm BST
122km to go: Abrahamsen flies over the sprint line to take the points for that, too. The rain jackets are on as more weather comes down.
1.38pm BST
130 km to go: It’s all on Abrahamsen, away from the field, and 4’ 50” clear as the the downhill continues and an intermediate sprint approaches. We are heading to Charles de Gaulle’s final resting place, Colombey-les-Deux-Églises .
144 km to go: Remaining climbs, and this the last before a sprint divides the race. Will the sprint teams get together in the final few kilometres.
1. Côte de Verrey-sous-Salmaise - 38.8 km (Cat 3)
2. Côte de Santenoge - 96.7 km - (Cat 4)
3. Côte de Giey-sur-Aujon - 122.4 km (Cat 4)
Abrahamsen takes the points again, his old EF mates sat back. Powless and Bissger are joined by Jordan Jegat, who then drops them. The peloton sits up ahead of the descent, which will be treacherous. EF’s plans to launch Healy appear to have flopped. Jegat is now Abrahamsen’s chaser, as another descent begins.
1.10pm BST
150 km to go: That was a greasy descent, followed by a climb into more gloom of 2.4km and nobody seems to want to go too hard down it. The field is split into groups now, a minute apart, and then two minutes back to the sprinters group, including Mark Cavendish. Project 36 may have to wait.
The leading group sees Abrahamsen go off alone and the EF Energy pair sit up, Powless and Bisseger as great holes appear in the pack on the climb. Pogacar looks happy enough, as a group of Bardet and Barguill, who went away on the first stage, are clear. Abrahmsen gets the single point on offer. Another greasy descent begins.
William Preston gets in touch: “For a domestique, a time trial is a great opportunity for a bit of a rest, the aim is to get around and hit the time cut, don’t crash and expensive as little energy as possible. As such, time trials are inherently dull to watch. There’s only a few riders prepared to get a stomp on to move up the GC rankings, the rest poodle about. To fine Bernard for briefly kissing his wife in a crowd of spectators, who were having an absolute ball is absolutely ridiculous. He, however, has handled like a boss.There’s the sprinters having beers passed to then by fans in the mountains and it’s all meant to be fun like that.
“The UCI could have made a lovely thing of it all on a slower news day, but the joyless, sock height measurers are truly joyless. Anyhow, looking forward to continued sprint based thrilling heroics later on today.”
12.59pm BST
158km to go: The first climb of the day, and it was only 2km, Abrahamsen goes for the two points on offer for his polka-dot campaign, and then Ben Healy’s EF Education team start to pile up the hill, and they want to join their two men up the road. Alberto Bettiol leads the charge, and Lotto send two riders after that mini breakaway. Abrahamsen takes the two points on offer. He’s saving them up for the bigger mountain passes to come next week. Healy goes after them, and the peloton is split. Now, who will want to join the breaks. A five kilometre descent follows.
12.54pm BST
160km to go: There are great clouds of moisture coming off those riders in that three-man breakaway. It’s not a pleasant day in Eastern France. “We’d like more guys here,” says Abrahamsen to the motorbike camera. It’s not really full bore stuff at the moment. They’d like more help to do turns on the front. But it’s a day of caution. Pogacar is making sure he’s towards the front of the peloton. The gap is a readily bridgeable 2’ 00”.
12.39pm BST
170km to go: Pogacar has taken a call of nature, and the breakaway trio takes a huge lead of over 2’15”, with Pacher’s chase already looking lost. The peloton is looking to make time back over the climbs and towards the end. There’s talk of crosswinds and echelons, too.
Updated at 12.43pm BST
12.30pm BST
180 km to go: Stefan Bisseger, Jonas Abrahamsen, Neilson Powless, all descending down the slope, all time-trialling their way down, and they open up a gap of 30 seconds with short work. Quentin Pacher of Groupama FDJ is between the two groups, hoping to get on.
Updated at 12.31pm BST
12.26pm BST
Away we go...
And they get underway on what looks like bending, weaving, troublesome terrain. A lot of effort already going in. The downhill comes at the finish, and it’s up and down from there. Christian Prudhomme waves them away and off go the attacks – EF Education to the fore. Abrahamsen in the polka is in the vanguard.
12.10pm BST
They’re approaching the départ , on the parade lap of Semur-en-Auxois, seven clicks from the real start of the race. It’s soggy, like Paris-Nice weather as the excellent Rob Hatch says on Eurosport.
Updated at 12.41pm BST
12.09pm BST
Bernard fined for kissing wife on stage
More Lidl-Trek news : “Julien Bernard has received a fine of 200CHF (£174) after he pulled up at the side of the road and embraced his family on stage seven.
“The French rider was sanctioned for “unseemly or inappropriate behaviour during the race and damage to the image of the sport”, according to the race jury’s report.”
Sprinter Mads Pedersen is OUT of the race , having hurt himself in the crash that immediately preceded Mark Cavendish’s record-breaking win on the fifth stage.
From his Team Lidl:
Unfortunately Mads Pedersen will not be on the start line of Tour de France Stage 8 after being forced to abandon the race following the crash in the bunch sprint on Stage 5 into Saint Vulbas.
The Danish rider fought through Stage 6 and 7 but the pain and swelling has not improved and the range of moment in his left shoulder has worsened, making it almost impossible to handle the bike.
While the initial x-rays showed no sign of a fracture , together with the Team, the decision was made that 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.
“It is a big bummer to lose Mads like this, after having lost Tao [Geoghegan Hart] before the start. That said we will still be in the game with Cicco and we will work out the plan B to race aggressively.” - Luca Guercilena, General Manager
Mads just said of his team: “these fuckers will have to win some stages now”. He now gets ready for the Olympics.
Updated at 12.19pm BST
11.58am BST
The news ahead of the stage is that it’s soggy, gloomy skies. Three categorised climbs in the early stages.
William Fotheringham describes today’s stage thus:
Stage eight, Saturday 6 July: Semur-en-Auxois to Colombey-les-Deux-Églises, 183.5km
The breathtaking run of cultural, culinary and historic reference points continues: now we’re off to the home and burial place of Charles de Gaulle. In 1960 en route to Troyes the riders stopped to greet France’s wartime leader; anti-climactically, lowly placed Pierre Beuffeuil took advantage of the halt to nip off up the road and win the stage. No chance of that today; expect a fourth bunch sprint.
11.45am BST
Preamble
A Saturday sprint special on the Tour, give or take a breakaway, perhaps from a Frenchman. After a day when GC came back into focus and the coming force, Remco Evenepoel , showed off his TT expertise, to show that Pogacar might actually have a challenger, then it’s back to the sprint trains and the GC teams to protect their own. And there’s always the chance that something happens along the way. It’s the Tour after all.
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