2014 Tour de France Stage 8 Live Coverage
Welcome to our live coverage of Stage 8 of the 2014 Tour de France! Our live profile and commentary are below, followed by a preview of the technical aspects of the route.
Course Preview
We finally get a first look at some of the higher mountains as the race moves into the Vosges. This won’t be a major test for the GC riders but we will get an inkling as to whose form is where.
The riders face more than 130 kilometres of flat roads, before three closely packed ascents to the summit finish at Ge?rardmer La Mauselaine. The sprinters shouldn’t have too many problems with the time cut today as the average pace should be high, thus extending the cut.
This will be notable for being the first opportunity for the overall contenders to put some time into each other, even though they’re unlikely to be pushing each other for victory just yet. So realistically, today is probably the best chance yet for a breakaway to succeed.
It could be a day for the French, with Sylvain Chavanel and Thomas Voeckler both enjoying this kind of parcours. If they hope to stay away they’ll have to make the most of the flat roads and build\nup a solid advantage before the first climb of the Col de la Croix des Moinats.
The final ascent of Ge?rardmer La Mauselaine is the day’s shortest but with a 10.3 per cent average gradient, it’s tough. At only 1.8 kilometres, a rider can make a move near the bottom and make it stick.
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