Tour de France 2018 Favourites stage 8: Sprint on Bastille Day

Le Quatorze Juillet is a day of celebrating French culture. And what would be a more appropriate way to do so than with a French victory? Is Démare able to deliver and win the 'Bastille Stage' on the Tour de France? A sprint in Amiens is very likely. (Slideshow route/profile)

The 8th stage of the Tour de France travels from Dreux to Amiens. The route is flat to rolling, which obviously is perfect for sprinters. Typical for the race are the toughest climbs of the day, Côte de Pacy-sur-Eure and Côte de Feuquerolles, both approximately 2 kilometres with an uphill slope of 4.3%. Furthermore, the Pacy-sur-Eure and Feuquerolles are crested with a long way out.

The finale is rather technical and ends with a false flat of 700 metres to the line. In 2015, Greipel sprinted to victory in Amiens.

The 1st stage and 4th stage of this year’s Tour de France were won by Fernando Gaviria ahead of Peter Sagan. Marcel kittel and Andre Greipel finished in third respectively. Gaviria is backed-up by the best lead-out team, Quick-Step, so chances are he will add another victory.

That said, Dylan Groenewegen outperformed the Colombian in the 7th stage with a well-timed effort on the rise towards the finish line, while Peter Sagan came in third. The World Champion himself won two stages, one of them in a bunch sprint. Gaviria was taken down in the crash-marked finale of the 2nd stage before Sagan outgunned Sonny Colbrelli and Arnaud Démare on the line.

Favourites 8th stage 2018 Tour de France

*** Fernando Gaviria, Peter Sagan, Dylan Groenewegen
** Marcel Kittel, Arnaud Démare, Sonny Colbrelli, André Greipel
* Mark Cavendish, John Degenkolb, Christophe Laporte, Alexander Kristoff