Tour de France Stage 8 provides the first true test for the bikers in this year's race. After seeing sprinters dominate the first seven days of the competition, the 161 kilometer Tomblaine to Gérardmer La Mauselaine race will squeeze out the best of the general classification contenders on Saturday.
Italy's Mateo Trentin came out of nowhere to edge past Slovakia's Peter Sagan, who seemed to have the race under control in the final dash.
Sagan and Greg Van Avermaet were in charge heading into the last kilometer of the race, when weird stuffs happened along the road. Crashes once again marred the seventh stage of the Tour de France, but it appeared Sagan had the upper hand down to the final meters.
But Trentin pulled off a final spirited dash to catch Sagan off guard and take his second career stage victory of the Tour. Sagan, meanwhile, is now third in the general classification standings behind Astana's Jakob Fuglsang and Vincenzo Nibali (yellow jersey holder).
Stage 8: Tomblaine - Gérardmer La Mauselaine
Tomblaine to Gérardmer La Mauselaine route will certainly test the bikers, but take the best of the climbers. The race will feature flat surface for the first 131 kilometers before going towards Category 2 Col de la Croix des Moinats.
The killer climb continues with another tough ascent towards Grosse Pierre, which features impossibly hard steep 10% ramps. The finish to Gérardmer La Mauselaine will be even tougher because of its average gradient of 10.3.
Joaquim Rodriguez and Alejandro Valverde are tapped as the favorites of this race, but two-time Tour de France champion Alberto Contador could also pull off some surprises down the road.
"The breaking point is here. Everybody's tired. The tension is constant since the start of the Tour. And that's why many riders will crack. We checked the climbs and it's tough', said BMC team director Yvon Ledanois.
"There's a lot up for grabs. The Vosges are a great playground, the stages are well designed and its possible to try something," said Philippe Mauduit, Alberto Contador's team chief at Tinkoff-Saxo.
Live Stream Information
NBCSN (US Viewers) and ITV4 (UK) will provide TV coverage of Stage 8 of the Tour de France starting at 7:00 EST. Viewers can follow the action via live stream on NBC Sports Extra (US), ITV4 (UK), and SBS Live Stream (Australia), while the latest updates and movements in the standings are available on Tour de France 2014.
For more Tour de France 2014 update, read more at Travelers Today
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