Tour de France Stage 8 takes place on the second Saturday of the race (9th July). It features the first really hard day of mountain climbing in the Pyrennes, including the iconic Col du Tormalet. The weather is predicted to be hot and we can expect the GC fight to be no different.
Stage 8 – The Profile
Stage 8 begins in the beautiful town of Pau, a longtime TDF stop. The days racing finishes 184 kms later in Bagneres-de-Luchon after 4 serious climbs.
The day will be up and down repeated. The first 50 kms of the stage feature a road that gradually rises. The riders looking for both KOTM and sprint points will mount their escapes here.
The Intermediate Sprint is part way up the highest climb of the day, the aforementioned Col du Tormalet. This is an HC ‘off category’ climb and features a lot of KOTM points for the climbers. The peak is reached 86 kms into the stage but there still remain a category 2 and 2 x category 1 climbs!
The category 2 Horquette d’Ancizan is 8.2 kms long and peaks at the 120 km point. A rapid descent and the first of the two category 1’s – the Col de Val Louren-Azet is reached. This and its sister category 1 climb – the Col de Peyresourde, are similar in length but much steeper. Expect a serious GC battle, possibly as early as the upper slopes of the Col de Val Louren-Azet. This one is for the elite mountain climbers.
The front of the race will be patrolled predominately by Team Sky and Movistar as they look to protect their team leaders. They will allow a break to go but will aim to catch it at the latest on the slopes of the final climb.
Like stage 7 this one ends with a descent to the line. The Col de Peyresourde is crossed with 16 kms remaining in the stage. The stage leaders will drop like stones off the mountain as they try to maximise their time gains.
Amazingly, Stage 9 on Sunday is tougher still!
The first Big Showdown
I’m a little annoyed that I called stage 7 wrong by deciding not going for the breakaway. I thought we would see the GC teams ride hard and Team Sky attack on the main climb of the day. I was wrong. Congratulations to Steve Cummings – Dimension Data are having some race!
Stage 8 will be different. The GC clash will ignite and stay lit for two days. Whether it is a red-hot or white-hot day remains to be played out.
Chris Froome (Sky) vs Nairo Quintana (Movistar) is what we all want to see. It was interesting to watch Team Sky on the climb near the finale of stage 7. Julian Alaphilippe (Etixx-Quickstep) launched a late attack, putting Warren Barguil (Giant) under pressure in an attempt to gain more time in the Young Jersey classification. Team Sky had a quick conversation and Wouter Pouls upped the tempo and closed Alaphilippe down really quickly. It was only a small show of force but it is an insight into what we will see from them at the weekend.
The fact there is no mountain top finish might delay the big event for 24 hours but I expect there to be the first attacks from Froome and Quintana. The front group will be small with probably 8-12 riders in all. This will likely include Froome, Quintana and one of their mountain support riders. I would imagine Richie Porte and Tejay Van Garderan (BMC Racing), Romain Bardet (AG2R), Dan Martin and Julian Alaphilippe (Etixx-Quickstep), Warren Barguil (Giant) possibly Fabio Aru (Astana) and maybe a couple of others will all around that front group. I’m not sure how Adam Yates (Orica) will go after the ridiculous events at the 1km marker yesterday where the inflatable caused him to crash.
So who do I see in with a chance?
A small elite group coming to the line together = sprint. The best riders from this type of group in a sprint are Dan Martin and Alejandro Valverde. I’m not 100% convinced that Alaphilippe will be able to stick with the front group up all 4 climbs. Valverde is favourite at odds in the 7.00-8.00 range and there is EW value. Martin is a more interesting choice at 13.0. He looked to attack on Stage 7 over the top of the final climb and looks to be in the best form of his career. He has a good chance on Saturday of getting into he top 3.
Romain Bardet is also priced in the 15.0 range. He too looks to be in the best form of his life (and is one of my exclusive tips in this websites weekly newsletter). He is a great rider down hill (up to) and you could do worse with a small EW bet.
I’m not really keen on anyone else but there is value once more in backing Froome (11.0-12.0) or Quintana (15.0). They will fire this weekend but will it be Saturday or Sunday?
Tour de France Stage 8 – Tips
PLACED – Back Dan Martin to win stage 8 with a 1.0/10 EW bet (1/4 odds top 5) at 13.00 with Paddy Power.
PLACED – Back Romain Bardet to win stage 8 with a 0.75/10 EW bet (1/4 odds top 5) at 15.00 with Paddy Power.
Back them here:
