Pedersen avoids another Philipsen victory on the day Mark Cavendish quits the Tour

First victory for the new colors of Lidl-Trek by the hand of Mads Pedersen in a final, climbing up after a leg-breaking day that was perfectly suited to its characteristics. The news of the day was the abandonment of Mark Cavendish after being involved in a silly crash but, as it happens in these cases, ended in one of the most typical injuries of the cyclist: broken collarbone.

Mark Cavendish says goodbye to Tour de France stage win record

No way, 34 stage victories in the Tour de France will remain the maximum that a rider has achieved throughout his career. Well, not one, two since, since two editions ago, this figure was shared between the great Eddy Merckx and one of the best sprinters of recent times as Mark Cavendish, who came to this Tour de France 2023 with the challenge of overcoming the mark of the legendary Belgian cyclist.

In one of the thousands of hills that populated the final part of the stage there was the typical clash between riders, braking and, in the back of the group, Mark Cavendish went to the ground, almost stopped but with such bad luck to fall directly on his shoulder. The image left no room for doubt, when the rider reaches for that area he knows that his collarbone has cracked and that the race was over.

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A day of leg-breaking profile with the race entering the winding roads of the Massif Central on a 200-kilometer route linking Libourne and Limoges with a really steep final section, with only two 4th category climbs but many more steeps and climbs that could well count for the mountain classification.

Again, as is happening in all the transition stages for the overall in this Tour de France, little combativeness at the start so that the first breakaway attempt was the one that forged. On this occasion, the protagonists would be Anthony Delaplace, Tim Declercq and Anthony Turgis. However, this time the peloton didn't just sit back, with a Lidl-Trek that must have had this stage in its sights and kept a lively pace all day with the aim that the hardness of the terrain would take its toll on the sprinters in favor of Mads Pedersen.

In any case, the race went on without anything worthy of note until, with 37 km to go, another Soudal-QuickStep rider, Kasper Asgreen, attacked the peloton trying to catch the breakaway in which his teammate Declercq was still riding, which made it clear that Patrick Lefevere's men were betting on the breakaway and that there was not much confidence in Fabio Jakobsen's or Julian Alaphilippe's options.

However, Asgreen would not go very far, just like the escapees, who were gradually dropping after the attack of Anthony Turgis, who would hold on until the last 4th category climb. A climb in which Jumbo-Visma took the lead and accelerated the pace to the extreme, working with all his men as if preparing an attack, in this case, it is assumed Wout van Aert for the pursuit of the stage. An attack that did not take place, so after the climb, the situation was reorganized already thinking about the finish.

A nervous last few kilometers, with some attempts to surprise by Campenaerts or Laporte that only serve to increase the tension and eventually lead to crashes. On this occasion, the victims were Mikel Landa and Simon Yates who, given the proximity of the finish line and the very high pace, would have had an impossible time to connect.

Final sprint in clear ascent in which enter the Jumbo-Visma launching Wout van Aert. However, Mads Pedersen had this stage marked and went out on one side with a fast acceleration that clearly saw Philipsen on the opposite side. It seemed that the story of the last few days would be repeated, but no, this time, the slight percentage and the power of Pedersen would be enough to hold the position and avoid what would have been the fourth victory of the Alpecin-Deceninck rider. For his part, Wout van Aert, powerless, had to settle for third place in the stage.

Stage 8 Classification

1. Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) 4h12'16''
2. Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck) +00’’
3. Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Vism) +00’’
4. Dylan Groenewegen (Jayco-AlUla) +00’’
5. Nils Eekhoff (Team DSM) +00’’
6. Bryan Coquard (Cofidis) +00’’
7. Jasper De Buyst (Lotto-Dstny) +00’’
8. Rasmus Tiller (Uno-X) +00’’
9. Corbin Strong (Israel-PremierTech) +00’’
10. Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) +00’’

Overall Classification

1. Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma) 34h09’38’’
2. Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) +25’’
3. Jai Hindley (Bora-Hansgrohe) +01’34’’
4. Carlos Rodríguez (INEOS Grenadiers) +03’30’’
5. Adam Yates (UAE Team Emirates) +03’40’’
6. Simon Yates (Jayco AlUla) +04’01’’
7. David Gaudu (Groupama-FDJ) +04’03’’
8. Romain Bardet (Team DSM) +04’43’’
9. Thomas Pidcock (INEOS Grenadiers) +04’43’’
10. Sepp Kuss (Jumbo-Visma) +05’28’’