Tour de France 2022 Stage 8 departs at 13:05 local time and will consists of two 4th category climb, two 3rd category climb along a 186, 3 km course taking us into Switzerland.
What can we make of stage 7?
The Tour de France is far from finish. Tadej Pogacar’s team UAE Emirates kept the breakaway in sight the whole of the Tour de France 2022 stage 7, before delivering the Slovenian at 1 km from the finish. The expertise and patience shown by Pogacar in beating Vingegaard was indeed impressive, but cycling fans in general should be grateful that Pogacar did not knock out all his opponents.
Hope for the neutrals again: After Majka has put in his effort, Pogacar was forced to take things in his hand. At that point, the two time Tour de France winner was on his own while there seemed to be at least 3 riders from each of Ineos Grenadiers and Jumbo-Visma. This could be of more importance on the longer climbs next week.
You can rewatch the whole of the Tour de France 2022 stage 7 HERE
Stage 8 profile
We will again see the non-stop fight to get into the break we have seen in the last 2 stages. It will last atleast until the intermediate sprint at 46,9 km. Apart from a 5km descent following the climb of the unclassified Col de La Savine, the riders will have to handle ‘faux plateaus’ and gain in altitude for around 100 km until the Col de Petra-Felix.
From then on, it will be an easier terrain, exposed to cunning attacks until the final climb of the day: the Cote du Stade Olympique.
Stage 8 preview
As the first part of the race is expected to be a rush to make the breakaway and make it stick, UAE Emirates will still have to filter things out and make sure no man, qualified as being dangerous to Pogacar, is part of it. There will be a lot of riders who would want to make the break-away, first among them will be Wout Van Aert. His first aim would be to cement his green jersey but he will have to deal with the consequences of his show of strength as there are very few riders in the peloton who would like to take the Belgian with them in a breakaway.
Once, the break away will be formed, its composition will be important for their outcome. In the unlikely scenario that Team Lotto- Soudal do not have a man at the front, they will have to put on the work to bring Caleb Ewan to a stage win. Depending again, on whether they will have man upfront, Team Bike Exchange for Michael Matthews, Trek- Segafredo for Stuyven or Pedersen, Israel Premier Tech for Daryl Impey and even Team Jumbo-Visma for Wout Van Aert or Christophe Laporte could also be thrown into catching the break-away.
Stage 8 predictions
★★★★★ Michael Matthews
This is a real chance at victory that he would not like to miss. He is strong enough to be able to make the break away as well as keeping up with the peloton pace.
★★★★☆ Magnus Cort Nielsen
By the standard he has set, we have not seen much of him in the past days, but with so many points on offer for the KOM and even the sprint classification, he will not want to miss the break-away again. Once part of it, he will be the man to beat.
★★★★☆ Wout Van Aert
He will probably want to make the break-away to gather those intermediate sprint points. Sadly, for him he will have to depend on himself, for the success of the break. There are not many men present in the tour who would feel confident enough to beat Wout Van Aert to a stage win.
★★★☆☆ Christophe Laporte
He really seems like a better option for team Jumbo Visma in a break. He will be able to find cooperation with other riders but he really does not seem to have much freedom in this race.
★★☆☆☆ Caleb Ewan
The final climb is way within his abilities and would have the full support of his team to bring him to a sprint. However he crashed on the paves, and suffered to make it with the best on the much easier cote des Religieuses (1.6km at 5.8%).
★☆☆☆☆ Bauke Mollema
The stage profile smells like him, but he might suffer in the last climb compared to faster and more powerful riders. He is a master at getting into break-away and a fox at getting rid of them and solo to a win.
★☆☆☆☆ Matej Mohoric
Another serious break-away champion, who knows how to deceive his companion and go away.
★☆☆☆☆ Mathieu Van der Poel
Clearly not at his best, it is the wish of each and everyone to find him at the front of the race.
You watch the Tour de France 2022 Stage 8 live with us as from 12 55 pm (France local time) here :
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