The 2025 Tour de France continued Saturday with stage 8 – a battle in flat terrain on a 171.5-kilometer route from Saint Meen le Grand to Laval Espace Mayenne in northwestern France. Our analysts expected the stage to be dominated by a long breakaway and the stage finale to be decided between the pure sprinters in the Tour peloton, as the slightly uphill finish was not expected to pose any problems for top sprint aces such as Jonathan Milan (Lidl-Trek), Biniam Girmay (Intermarche-Wanty), Kaden Groves (Alpecin-Deceuninck), and Tim Merlier of Team Soudal-QuickStep.

Tadej Pogacar had claimed the yellow jersey and the general classification lead after taking his second stage victory of this year’s Tour de France in yesterday’s stage 7. The Slovenian rider was now 54 seconds ahead of Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-QuickStep), while Kevin Vauquelin had advanced to third, 01:11 minutes behind the Slovenian rider. Jonas Vingegaard was fourth, Matteo Jorgenson sixth, Florian Lipowitz eighth, and Primoz Roglic ninth, 03:06 minutes back.

Stage 8 got off to a relaxed start in Saint-Meen-le-Grand under sunny skies. The hot weather conditions with temperatures around 31 degrees Celsius had a demotivating effect on the breakaway experts in the Tour peloton as did the expected mass sprint finish of the stage as several sprinter teams were eagerly aiming for a stage win. Start town Saint-Meen-le-Grand was the birthplace of three-time Tour de France winner Louison Bobet but sadly no riders appeared interested in honoring the legendary French cyclist by animating today’s race.

There had been no breakaway attempts after twenty kilometers of racing. Quinn Simmons had moved to the front of the peloton to set a perfect pace for Lidl-Trek’s sprint ace Jonathan Milan to be transported perfectly through today’s stage. 

All riders were still in the peloton with 130 kilometers left. Sports directors from various teams were encouraging their riders to hydrate well during the stage because of the hot racing conditions. Intermarche-Wanty riders had joined the front as the Tour peloton passed by a smorgasbord of spectators and cornfields.

The peloton approached the intermediate sprint of the stage and Jonathan Milan won the sprint and secured the most points for the points classification as Biniam Girmay and his Intermarche-Wanty sprint train mistimed their sprint. 

Mathieu Burgaudeau bravely launched a solo attack for Team TotalEnergies immediately after the sprint and TotalEnergies teammate Matteo Vercher joined the fun shortly thereafter. 

With team sponsor TotalEnergies producing various forms of energy, the front duo would certainly be well-equipped for the breakaway and the team was doing what it could to honor the Tour de France race as well as its TotalEnergies and Vendee Departement sponsors. Meanwhile, Quinn Simmons and Jonas Rutsch were at the front of the main peloton and doing their best to control the advantage of the breakaway duo, which had a lead of approximately half a minute with 67 kilometers left of the race.

Teammates Burgaudeau and Vercher cooperated well in the front duo and had increased their lead to approximately one minute when 58 kilometers remained.

Tadej Pogacar lieutenant Marc Soler of UAE Team Emirates suffered a crash. The rider did not appear significantly injured but had to switch to a new bike before he carried on.

The advantage of the Vercher-Burgaudeau TotalEnergies front duo had been reduced to twenty-five seconds when thirty kilometers remained. The sprinter teams in the main peloton were not interested in catching the front duo at this point, because it might encourage counterattacks. Fans had lined up along the roads to celebrate the cyclists in the greatest Grand Tour of them all.

The advantage of the front duo had increased to more than a minute as the Tour peloton was twenty kilometers from the finish line in Laval Espace Mayenne. Intermarche-Wanty’s Jonas Rutsch crashed seriously with Einar Rubio (Movistar Team) shortly thereafter and hit the tarmac. Rutsch was intended as an important lead-out rider for Biniam Girmay in the anticipated sprint finish of today’s stage 8.

The peloton and front duo were approaching the stage finale. Thirteen kilometers remained and the final kilometers would feature multiple roundabouts and other turns while the final meters would be slightly uphill.

While Vercher left Burgaudeau behind from the front duo, Soudal-QuickStep’s sprinter Tim Merlier suffered a mechanical twelve kilometers from the finish line. Bad luck for the Belgian team. Riders from Lidl-Trek, Bahrain-Victorious, and Tudor Pro Cycling Team were spearheading the peloton. Vercher was six seconds ahead with ten kilometers left.

Vercher got reeled in and riders from Visma-Lease a Bike, Lidl-Trek, Bahrain-Victorious, Jayco-Alula and Alpecin-Deceuninck were fighting for positions in the front part of the peloton.

Five kilometers remained and a tricky stage finale now awaited the peloton. The sprinter teams were setting up their sprint trains to deliver their respective sprint aces ultimately for the final mass sprint towards the finish line.

Alpecin-Deceuninck led the race with 3.5-kilometers to the finish line. Other teams joined the action. Lidl-Trek, Bahrain-Victorious and Lotto-Caps riders were visible and Intermarche-Wanty also approached the front.

Lidl-Trek led the peloton into the final kilometer. Tudor riders took over and then Groupama-FDJ. Kaden Groves started his sprint and Jonathan Milan responded. Jonathan Milan easily passed Groves and crossed the finish line as winner of stage 8 for Team Lidl-Trek. Remarkably, it was the first Italian rider to win a Tour de France stage since 2019. Wout van Aert finished second for Team Visma-Lease a Bike, while Kaden Groves completed the stage podium.

“We came with some expectations and dreams and to predict at home and carry it out in real life are two different things. We’ve been close to the win before and today the guys did a fantastic job,” stage winner Milan explained to Roadcycling.com shortly after the stage finish.

“It was a stressful finish, and I knew I had to wait as long as I could in the slightly uphill finish and I’m really happy with the victory, which we really deserve in the team, and I am so happy for all of us. Tonight, we will recover as much as possible and then try again tomorrow,” Milan added.

Tadej Pogacar remains general classification leader after today’s stage. Pogacar leads the 2025 Tour de France ahead of Remco Evenepoel, Kevin Vauquelin, and Jonas Vingegaard.

Sunday’s stage 9 of Tour de France 2025 will be another battle in flat terrain on a 174.1-kilometer route from Chinon to Chateauroux. Expect riders to attempt to establish a long breakaway following their rest in Saturday’s stage and the stage finale to be decided between the pure sprinters in the Tour as many sprinters still hunger for success and podium fame in the Tour.

Stay tuned to Roadcycling.com for complete coverage from the 2025 Tour de France.