Milan secures his first victory with a powerful sprint in the eighth stage of the Tour de France, Van Aert surprises with second place

The stage from Saint-Meén-le-Grand to Laval was the first truly flat stage since the third stage. Tim Merlier won that, but after that, it was up to the attackers, GC contenders, and time trial riders. The eighth stage was a welcome break and an excellent opportunity for the sprinters, as it featured only 1,200 meters of climbing, leaving little for the attackers to gain.

They kept their legs still. At the start, no rider was in the mood for a long, difficult day in the heat, so control was quickly left to the sprinter teams. The pace was around 40 kilometers per hour, and no one made any move to break away: it was a leisurely stage, similar to the third stage earlier in the Tour. It was a rare moment of calm, and riders were able to chat during the quiet start.

The first notable moment was the intermediate sprint in Vitré. There were another 20 points up for grabs, so the pace picked up. Jonathan Milan, Tim Merlier, and Biniam Girmay were again at the front, and it was the Italian in the green jersey, borrowed for this stage from the actual leader, Tadej Pogacar, who crossed the line first. Merlier finished second, ahead of Anthony Turgis and Girmay.

After that intermediate sprint, there was indeed a breakaway: TotalEnergies jumped away with two men. Mattéo Vercher was once again ahead of the pack, together with teammate Mathieu Burgeaudeau. The two Frenchmen were allowed to battle it out for the combativity award: they were given a maximum of one minute's time advantage over the peloton. By now, the wind had picked up a bit, and the terrain was open.

However, the echelon battle failed to materialize, allowing the two Frenchmen at the front of the race to enjoy their freedom for a bit longer. As the race approached the finish in Laval, their lead began to slip. There was a scare when Jonas Rutsch (Intermarché-Wanty) and Einer Rubio (Movistar) crashed, with the German looking particularly badly hurt, but fortunately, he was able to continue.

The only mountain point of the day, 16 kilometers from the finish line, was taken by Burgeaudeau. By now, the peloton was gaining momentum, and so the leaders were not capable of holding on. However, the two did get into a battle, which was only to be expected. Burgeaudeau was the stronger of the two and stayed ahead of the pack the longest, but the Frenchman was caught 10 kilometers from the finish.

It was time for the sprint battle, but at the worst possible moment, Merlier had some bad luck. With 12 kilometers to go, he was on the side of the road. The European champion immediately set off the chase and returned 3 kilometers later, but it was not ideal. Paul Penhoët (Groupama-FDJ) also had a flat tire and could probably say goodbye to his place of honor. A crash by Krists Neilandts (Israel - Premier Tech) was missed by everyone, but it was a sign of the nervous finale.

It felt like it was only a matter of time before another crash occurred. Alpecin-Deceuninck set up the train for Groves, while Lidl-Trek kept a low profile in the final, a few positions behind. Merlier worked his way forward close to the wheel of regular lead-out man Bert Van Lerberghe, but it took a long time before the European champion was visible at the front. With 3 kilometers to go, he finally joined the top 20.

Lotto and Alpecin-Deceuninck did most of the work in the jam-packed final, but as so often, Lidl-Trek only came to the front late. Groves almost caused a crash just before the uphill section and had to choose De Lie's wheel. Milan was perfectly positioned but quickly found himself isolated. Van der Poel started the lead-out at the perfect moment, leaving the sprint to Groves. However, Milan pushed past him and won, ahead of the surprising Wout van Aert.