2023 Tour de France Stage 8 Results & Recap
Stage 8 of the 2023 Tour de France is in the books. The final results and standings are below, followed by our recap of how the race unfolded.
Race Recap
Pedersen wins stage 8
Mads Pedersen (LTK) outsprinted Jasper Philipsen (ADC) after a fast and relatively flat and long stage that saw a bunch sprint wrap up stage 8. Wout van Aert (Jumbo Visma) was third.
"We didn’t know this morning if it would be a break or a sprint," Pedersen said. "The sprinters didn't want to let the break go. My boys gave me a perfect lead-out. Even with a long sprint, I still had the legs to finish it off. It’s good to win a stage earlier than on stage 13 last year. When I passed the line, I knew I had won. It was a long sprint. The final stretch was very painful. I was very close to sitting up with 50 m to go. Jasper had to do a great sprint to overtake me. Yet it doesn’t matter winning by a large margin or by a small one. Regardless of this, it’s beautiful to win at the Tour. For me, it was a pleasure to be able to ride with Mark Cavendish. I always had a good relationship with him in the peloton. It's so sad for a legend to finish the Tour like this. He still owes me a jersey, for a jersey swap. Hopefully, I can do some of the last races he does."
Tomorrow's stage is another hard, mountainous test, featuring the formidable Puy-de-Dome. Jonas Vingegaard is still in the lead by 25 seconds over Tadej Pogacar.
“We expected a difficult finale," Vingegaard said. "The stage was demanding because of the heat, but we’ve dealt with it. We would have preferred to win the stage, but Mads [Pedersen] has been very strong. I went to recon the Puy-de-Dôme the day before the Dauphiné, it’s extremely steep. Tomorrow’s stage can be decisive, but there’ll be more afterward.”
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