And that’s your lot from today. We’ll be back tomorrow for stage nine, which could well be a punishing one. Ta ta!
One last thing before you go - Mark Cavendish is still in the Tour, having come home just inside the time cut, at 39 minutes back from the leaders.
Bit from Alberto Contador - 20th in the overall standings, some 3’12” back from Froome - on how things are panning out for him: “The stage was very hard for me, very demanding. I was hoping not to lose too much time today, but that’s the way it is. I did the best I can. We are going to talk with the rest of the team for the future because Roman Kreuziger is better placed than I am. It’s terrible to have crashed like this twice in the first week and to have lost so much time after working so hard to be here. It’s cycling, danger is everywhere. Believe me, I did the best I can.”
Here’s a quick report on stage eight. There will be something more fleshed out from William Fotheringham later on.
Rafa Majka gets the King O’ the Mountains polka dot jersey, notching up 31 points. Thibaut Pinot has 30, while some chap called Froome has 22.
Froome is presented with the yellow jersey, a bouquet of flowers and the ceremonial stuffed lion. Careful Chris - carrying that sort of thing can get you associated with embarrassing failure.
Overall standings after stage eight
1) Chris Froome (Team Sky) 39hrs 13’04”
2) Adam Yates (Orica-BikeExchange) + 00’ 16”
3) Joaquim Rodriguez (Katusha) +00’ 16”
4) Dan Martin (Etixx-Quick Step) +00’ 17”
5) Alejandro Valdverde (Movistar) + 00’ 19”
6) Nairo Quintana (Movistar) + 00’ 23”
7) Fabio Aru (Astana) + 00’ 23”
8) Tejay van Garderen (BMC) +00’ 23”
9) Romain Bardet (AG2R La Mondiale) + 00’ 23”
10) Bauke Mollema (Trek-Segafredo) + 00’ 23”
That’s five of the eight stage wins for British riders, by the way.
“It was one of the toughest days so far,” says Geraint Thomas. “I was on my knees - I thought I was going to get dropped after the first two climbs. I had about 12 gels. Today we weren’t planning to do too much, but the way the race went everyone was on their knees, so he (Froome) took the chance.”
Le Top 10 de cette étape / The Top 10 of the stage #TDF2016 pic.twitter.com/5aYCcOYjzL
— Le Tour de France (@LeTour) July 9, 2016
“It was just a bit of fun really,” says Froome of that belting descent. “I just thought I’d see what I could do. It was real old-school bike racing. Maybe it took a bit too much, tomorrow’s going to be a hard day, but I’ll take every second I can get at this stage.”
Froome takes the yellow jersey
We’ll get the full classification in a moment, but he’ll be something like 20 seconds ahead in the general classification.
Froome was 13 seconds ahead of the pack at the end there, Dan Martin leading that lot home. We’ll have some full classifications for you shortly.
Chris Froome wins stage eight
Well by golly that was good.
Updated
Quite an exhibition of cycling really, really fast this by Froome...
@NickMiller79 Froome right now. pic.twitter.com/pfREtBUBfv
— Ian McCourt (@ianmccourt) July 9, 2016
I mean...there’s absolutely no way this can be comfortable...
We know cyclists are gluttons for punishment... but this definitely looks above and beyond the call of duty! https://t.co/ifJGzMzBnv
— Eurosport UK (@Eurosport_UK) July 9, 2016
Sheesh - Froome 24 seconds ahead now. Yer Quintanas and yer Valderdes will try to bring him in, but that happened fast.
Froome’s sinking down into that ungainly, uncomfortable looking but aerodynamically efficient position where he almost crouches down on his crossbar and sticks his head down. And it’s working - his lead is increasing all the time, there’s about 7km left of the stage.
Hahaha @NickMiller79 so after talking about aesthetically pleasing cyclists earlier Froome descends like that....
— Bryan (@TheFettz) July 9, 2016
Froome’s streaking away now - 12 seconds ahead as he bullets down the hill.
Froome takes the lead
Woof! As they go over the top of the peak Froome makes a massive break and now has clear air between him and the rest. He’s a couple of seconds in the lead now.
Breaks all the time now: Quintana and Porte make a move, with Valverde and Froome doing their best to stay with them.
And there’s another break up to the top of the peak now. Froome and Dan Martin and Quintana and a few others have belted ahead.
Riders slipping off the back of the pack now with about 18km to do - Wout Poels has dropped back after doing Froome’s pace-setting for him, while Reichenbach falls away too. Meanwhile Kelderman has put in quite an effort to get back among the group after the mishap earlier.
The last climb is underway, a 7.1km, 7.9% gradient effort up to Col de Peyresourde. The Team Sky lot are still in the lead, but Madjka has slipped away from a pack a little now after leading for so long. He still should have the polka dot journey, mind.
Here's Kelderman hitting the deck on a tight hairpin. Watch #TDF2016 on Eurosport Player https://t.co/sP0qQBPQCX https://t.co/faNWfvmK5c
— Eurosport UK (@Eurosport_UK) July 9, 2016
A faller! Wilco Kalderman goes down while rounding a downhill corner, and it was pretty lucky that he didn’t cause a bunch of riders behind him to go off too. Looks like his inner tube went, which is not a euphemism.
Incidentally - Morkov, the Danish Katusha rider, is the first to drop out of this year’s tour. That’s a pretty impressive rate.
Aggressive stuff from Team Sky as the reach the top of the Col de Val Louron-Azet, as Froome and a colleague nip ahead of Majka, not allowing him to take the full King O’ the Mountain points. Bit mean? Or just ruthless?
Majka has now been caught by the group headed by Team Sky, so now Froome, Geraint Thomas et all lead the stage, as they pass around bottles of water handed to them by spectators.
Looks like we’ve lost one...
1er abandon du Tour : Michael Morkov / Morkov first abandon of the Tour #TDF2016 pic.twitter.com/dFsfll4UEA
— Le Tour de France (@LeTour) July 9, 2016
Can anyone help the lad out here?
Any ideas how to watch English language #TDF2016 in Italy? Am watching Rai3 coverage in Italian with @nickmiller79 @guardian live feed
— Will Gardiner (@willgardiner) July 9, 2016
Pinot’s having a can of a popular red-themed fizzy drink now. Gamble, that. Very gassy.
Pinot has now slipped out of the back of the pack like a slippery bar of soap. Decent effort from the lad but he can now presumably stop and go for cream and scones back at the ranch.
Majka makes a move, and has pushed out ahead of Martin and Pinot, who have been thoroughly caught by the pack now, and are in the process of blending into that pack.
They’re approaching the third of the four climbs: the Col de Val Louron-Azet. It’s 10.7km and with a 6.3% average slope. Is it a slope? More of a hill. Or a mountain.
And now the gap is down to 55 seconds. They’ve been reeled in by Team Sky et al, which does seem slightly curious: Majka, Pinot and Martin probably aren’t going to be among those challenging at the end, so expending a lot of energy in chasing them down is a tad odd, no? Unless the front three have just slowed down colossally.
The Team Sky group are still chipping away at the leading trio. They’re now 1.15 back. The yellow jersey group, featuring Nibali and of course Greg Van Avermaet, is about 5.55 back.
They’re now over the crest of La Hourquette d’Anzican (or at least the three leaders are), with Pinot bagging the five points, Majka three and Martin two. Two more climbs to go in the 64km remaining, but the chances are that Pinot will have the polka dot jersey.
Romain Sicard tries a break from the main group but can’t quite put any real daylight between he and the Team Sky lot. But the gap is closing - now about 1.30 between them and the top three.
The Froome-Quintana group have closed the gap a little on the leading trio - they’re now 1.40 back from Majka, Martin and Pinot.
Remember we mentioned Michael Morkov was having some injury issues earlier? Well, he’s just gone over the Tourmalet. 23 minutes after everyone else. Keeping plugging away, champ.
Julian Alaphilippe sounds like he should be a character in a Babar the Elephant story @NickMiller79
— Gary Naylor (@garynaylor999) July 9, 2016
It is honkingly hot out there as they climb towards the Hourquette d’Anzican. We’re talking low 30s, so you wonder how Pinot, for example, will cope with that. He’s not a fan of such weather, particularly, one would imagine, when cycling up a bloody great hill.
Terrific work from Tony Price, here: “I’ve just noticed (being a tad slow) that there is a Sebastien Reichenbach in the frame. Would it take Sherlock to work out the headline if he came off his bike?”
Lllllllllovely stuff, this:
@NickMiller79 Surprised no-one's used the word "souplesse" today. Here's the definition: https://t.co/8nwdMZkevV
— Harv in Lycra (@HarvLycra) July 9, 2016
The leading trio have extended their lead to about 2.40 now. That’s Majka, Pinot and Martin if you can’t be bothered to scroll down a few entries.
The peloton (which includes Froome and Quintana) is currently about 2.17 behind the leaders, and if you’re keeping track of Nibali’s movements he’s a further 3 minutes behind that, along with Julian Alaphilippe.
The riders are belting down the descent, with Martin having rejoined Majka and Pinot up top, but there’s another climb in about 4km time. That’s an 8.2km climb with an average gradient of 4.2%.
Updated
Points! Who wants some points? Pinot bagged himself 25 for reaching the Col first, while Majka receives 20 and Martin tucks 16 into his back pocket. Speaking of back pockets, Pinot wins the Souvenir Jacques-Goddet, for which he receives €5,000, Better than a kick in the swingers, and no mistake. Meanwhile, I have a three-cheese macaroni. Can’t confirm what the cheeses are, though. Nothing blue...maybe parmesan is involved?
The Col has been peaked, and Pinot is the surprise name as the man who reached it first, but as they descend Majka goes past him.
Pinot crests the Tourmalet and takes maximum KoM points just ahead of Majka, with Martin perhaps 20 seconds back.
They’re approaching the top of the rather spectacular Col du Tourmalet now. Pinot, Majka and Martin have pulled nearly two minutes ahead of the pack, while Vincenzo Nibali has dropped off the back of the peloton.
Here’s more from Zachary Gomperts-Mitchelson, on aesthetics: “So, obviously when considering aesthetics it’s only fair to consider the cyclists in their element, of the sprinters I’ve always liked the smaller ones, Caleb Ewan looks like an actual torpedo, whereas Kittel and Gripel look like bulls passing melons, all that power is quite exciting though.
“Quintana just looks right on a hill, like the figurative mountain goat, if mountain goats could glide, although it does seem unfair that Froome’s weird style seems to turn the snobs against his achievements.”
Just over 103 km of the total 184km remaining of this stage. Majka and Pinot, surprisingly, still lead.
Pinot and Rafal Majka have pulled ahead now - they’re about 20 seconds clear of Martin and Jeannesson, who in turn are a little clear of the main group featuring the big names.
Back to the important matter of the day, and who looks the best while cycling. And Jim Brown is after some balance: “Whilst it is important to recognise style cyclists, it’s also important to recognise those who were left on the line whilst the pretty ones were being picked...
Thomas Voeckler going up hill
Tony Martin going down hill
and Andre Greipel... Poor lad..”
Tony Martin is up top too, but Jeannesson has now dropped back a little. Meanwhile, the results of the intermediate sprint:
1. Michael Matthews, 20 pts
2. Mikaël Chérel, 17 pts
3. Jasper Stuyven, 15 pts
4. Stef Clement, 13 pts
5. Paul Voss, 11 pts
6. Tom Dumoulin, 10 pts
7. Dylan van Baarle, 9 pts
8. Romain Sicard, 8 pts
9. Luis Leon Sanchez, 7 pts
10. Jesus Herrada, 6 pts
11. Dani Navarro, 5 pts
12. Ilnur Zakarin, 4 pts
13. Wout Poels, 3 pts
14. Peter Sagan, 2 pts
15. Thibaut Pinot, 1 pt
They’re approaching the climb to the col du Tourmalet now, which is where the incline gets particularly spicy. A new breakaway group has formed, including Thibaut Pinot (who presumably hasn’t stopped for crumpets with the vicar), Julian Alaphilippe and Arnold Jeannesson. The rest of the overall leaders remain in the peloton.
Here’s a wee history lesson, from a past Tour stage that also ended in Luchon, as this one does, via Andrew Benton: “Here’s the race in 1953 (with Dutch commentary, so I’ve no idea what is being said) - Cauterets to Luchon section is about 31.15 - 37.00 mins. The riders approaching Luchon with the inner tubes around their shoulders (36.15ish and later) really have style! Great false moustaches at the beginning of the film, too.”
A breakaway! A bold trio of Dani Navarro, Samuel Dumoulin and Mikael Chérel have moved a little clear of the pack.
The peloton has reached the 55km point, still bunched together. 10km to go before the intermediate sprint.
A very thorough answer, on aesthetics, from Zachary Gomperts-Mitchelson: “To your aesthetics question the answer is absolutely yes! There is even a name for it, those that look nice on the bike might be described as a pedaleur de charme. Although the cycling podcast gives it’s pedaleur de charme award to either the most honourable, quirky or hardest trying rider of the day.
“To keep it within confines of the Great British Brexit (sadness, woe) for a start look no further than Britain’s two Tour winners. Bradley Wiggins is an aesthetes dream, his position on the bike perfect, every metronomic pedal stroke symetrical across his body, even and forever. Froome on the other hand pedals like a man with the shivers holding a circular saw.
“While all opinions on how charme a pedaleur might be are subjective there are, like Federer, certain riders we can all agree on, Sagan going down a hill for instance is pure art.”
No huge dramas in the peloton so far. Peter Sagan broke away from the pack briefly but everything has bunched up a little now. Michael Morkov - in last place after yesterday - seems to be having some injury problems, though.
Our old friend Gary Naylor has some thoughts on pretty riders:
@NickMiller79 Pantani climbing, Wiggo time-trialling, Hinault strutting at the head of the peloton and Roger De Vlaeminck on the pavé.
— Gary Naylor (@garynaylor999) July 9, 2016
@NickMiller79 Cancellara and Wiggins are perfection in motion on a TT bike. On a climb Contador is fascinating for style and endurance.
— Marco Dossena (@Marco_Dossena) July 9, 2016
On aesthetically-pleasing cyclists, here’s Colin Mackay: “I have always liked the way that Contador seems to spend most of his time out of the saddle; makes him seem preternaturally energetic, a ‘natural’ cyclist. By the same token, Froome looks awkward, always staring down, fixated on his power meter.”
Mathieu Ladagnous isn’t going to be winning anything anytime soon (he was 98th after yesterday, but at least he’s having a nice time: “It’s fantastic to pass near my house. Unfortunately I won’t have time to stop because it’s a very difficult stage today.” Quite like the idea that if it wasn’t a very difficult stage, he’d maybe stop at his mam’s for a brew.
Here’s a question, for greater cycling scholars than I: is there such a thing as a cycling stylist, someone who cycles in an aesthetically pleasing manner? The pedalling equivalent of Roger Federer or David Gower, as opposed to Milos Raonic or Gary Ballance. And if so, what makes them so?
The stage proper starts in about 20 minutes. Here’s a quick reminder of what they’re facing today.
They’re away!
Le départ réel est donné ! / The stage is on! #TDF2016 pic.twitter.com/WQw0YdPYzY
— Le Tour de France (@LeTour) July 9, 2016
Quick reminder of the classification at the start of this stage:
1. Greg Van Avermaet (Belgium / BMC Racing) 34:09:44”
2. Adam Yates (Britain / Orica) +5:50”
3. Julian Alaphilippe (France / Etixx - Quick-Step) +5:51”
4. Alejandro Valverde (Spain / Movistar) +5:53”
5. Joaquim Rodriguez (Spain / Katusha) +5:54”
6. Chris Froome (Britain / Team Sky) +5:57”
7. Nairo Quintana (Colombia / Movistar) +5:57”
8. Warren Barguil (France / Giant) +5:57”
9. Pierre Rolland (France / Cannondale) +5:57”
10. Daniel Martin (Ireland / Etixx - Quick-Step) +5:57”
11. Fabio Aru (Italy / Astana) +5:57”
12. Tejay van Garderen (U.S. / BMC Racing) +5:57”
13. Wilco Kelderman (Netherlands / LottoNL) +5:57”
14. Romain Bardet (France / AG2R) +5:57”
15. Bauke Mollema (Netherlands / Trek) +5:57”
16. Sergio Henao (Colombia / Team Sky) +5:57”
17. Jurgen Van den Broeck (Belgium / Katusha) +6:06”
18. Roman Kreuziger (Czech Republic / Tinkoff) +6:08”
19. Louis Meintjes (South Africa / Lampre) +6:08”
20. Sebastien Reichenbach (Switzerland / FDJ) +6:08”
Hopefully there are no more incidents along these lines today. All very funny, of course, but imagine if this had happened when everyone was going along full pelt.
Preamble
Hello, and welcome to stage eight of the Tour de France. Hills, then. Big hills. There were some hills yesterday: today there are more hills. Big hills. The riders start at Pau before getting thoroughly stuck into a big chunk of the Pyrenees, which is about the point that more learned people than your humble correspondent expect current yellow jersey-sporter Greg Van Avermaet to be thanked for his service and slink back into the pack. As yer man William Fotheringham wrote in his report of stage seven: “He knows, however, that over Saturday’s four massive passes, including the Col du Tourmalet and the Col de Peyresourde, his time should finally be up.”
Some of the big names are quite well-placed - your Froomes, your Quintanas - but one man seems to have taken a poor showing rather badly, and turned to Larkin-esque poetry to describe his emotions. “My season has turned to dust. The objective is dead,” said home favourite Thibaut Pinot. Blimey. I hope he’s OK.
Updated
Nick will be here soon enough. Until then, relive stage seven, read William Fotheringham’s report from Lac de Payolle as Britain’s Steve Cummings recorded his second Tour de France stage win of his career:
In the last 12 months Steve Cummings has turned into one of the most efficient hunters of stage wins in the increasingly structured – some would say sterile – world of 21st-century cycling, where riders adopt fixed roles and race to order. Each of the Wirral rider’s five victories in WorldTour races in the last 12 months has combined the same ingredients: stunning tactical sense, a nose for an opportunity and the single-minded ability to target the days in a stage race that suit him the most.
Since he outwitted Romain Bardet and Thibaut Pinot to win the Tour stage at Mende last year Cummings has added further stage wins in Tirreno-Adriatico, the Tour of the Basque Country and the Critérium du Dauphiné. Like his win in the Dauphiné, his victory here came at the end of a solo escape over the final climb – in this case the Col d’Aspin – and was thought through at a level which will surprise those who think cycling is a matter of merely pressing hard on the pedals.
Updated
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