MUR DE BRETAGNE, France – A brief look at the eighth stage of the Tour de France on Saturday:
Stage: A mostly flat 112.5-mile trek starting from Rennes and finishing with a short but tough climb up Mur de Bretagne.
Winner: Alexis Vuillermoz, who gave France its first stage win this year after a bold counterattack. Vuillermoz, a former mountain bike specialist, won five seconds ahead of Dan Martin, with Spaniard Alejandro Valverde ending third, 10 seconds back.
Yellow jersey: Chris Froome. The 2013 Tour champion leads Peter Sagan by 11 seconds. Tejay Van Garderen is 13 seconds behind in third place.
How did the “Fab Four” perform?: Froome reasserted his authority with an attack in the final climb. Two-time champion Alberto Contador and 2013 Tour runner-up Nairo Quintana were able to follow the quick pace, but defending champion Vincenzo Nibali was dropped. Overall, Froome leads Contador by 36 seconds, Nibali by 1:48 and Quintana by 1:56.
Quote of the day: “I don’t understand what happened. Hopefully this was just a bad day, otherwise this Tour will be difficult.” Astana manager Giuseppe Martinelli, about Nibalis’s alarming performance in the final climb.
Stat of the day: 10 In seconds, the time lost by Nibali over just 1.2 miles of climbing.
Next stage: Sunday’s ninth stage is a 17.4-mile team time trial between Vannes and Plumelec featuring an uphill finish.
Associated Press
