Alexis Vuillermoz broke from the the lead group with under a kilometer to go, on a day when even the man in the polka dot jersey (Daniel Teklehaimanot) and the defending Tour champion (Vincenzo Nibali) had trouble hanging with the pack towards the finish. Seeing the French rider's move, Dan Martin of Cannondale-Garmin chased, but it was too late. Vuillermoz crossed the line first, giving France its first stage winner.
Team Sky and BMC drove the pace late in the stage. Chris Froome and Tejay van Garderen were in position to potentially gun for the line, but they stayed back, content that they were safely in the lead group. Those two -- in addition to Nairo Quintana and Alberto Contador -- were given the same time, 10 seconds behind Vuillermoz.
Nibali will lose 10 seconds to them for floundering late. That time gap is hardly disastrous, but it doesn't bode well with more serious climbs looming. His teammate, Jakob Fuglsang, had no explanation for Nibali's struggles after the race. Maybe there isn't much to say except that this year is different from the last.
Peter Sagan nipped Andre Greipel for the green jersey after finishing fourth on the stage, and may not relinquish until Paris with so few flat surfaces left. Froome remains in yellow, but van Garderen is well-positioned to potentially snatch it Sunday during the team trial.
Stage 8 results
| Name |
Team |
Time |
Gap |
| Alexis Vuillermoz |
AG2R La Mondiale |
4:20:55 |
|
| Dan Martin |
Cannondale-Garmin |
4:21:00 |
:05 |
| Alejandro Valverde |
Movistar |
4:21:05 |
:10 |
| Peter Sagan |
Tinkoff-Saxo |
" |
" |
| Tony Gallopin |
Lotto-Soudal |
" |
" |
| Greg Van Avermaet |
BMC |
" |
" |
| Adam Yates |
Orica Greenedge |
" |
" |
| Christopher Froome |
Sky |
" |
" |
| Bauke Mollema |
Trek |
" |
" |
| Tejay van Garderen |
BMC |
" |
" |
General classification (yellow jersey) standings
| Name |
Team |
Time |
Gap |
| Christopher Froome |
Sky |
31:01:56 |
|
| Peter Sagan |
Tinkoff-Saxo |
31:02:07 |
:11 |
| Tejay van Garderen |
BMC |
31:02:09 |
:13 |
| Tony Gallopin |
Lotto-Soudal |
31:02:22 |
:26 |
| Greg Van Avermaet |
BMC |
31:02:24 |
:28 |
| Rigoberto Uran Uran |
Etixx-Quick Step |
31:02:30 |
:34 |
| Alberto Contador |
Tinkoff-Saxo |
31:02:32 |
:36 |
| Warren Barguil |
Giant-Alpecin |
31:03:03 |
1:07 |
| Zdenek Stybar |
Etixx-Quick Step
|
31:03:11 |
1:15 |
| Bauke Mollema |
Trek Factory
|
31:03:28 |
1:32 |
General Classification favorites
| Overall rank |
Name |
Team |
Time |
Gap |
| 1. |
Christopher Froome |
Sky |
31:01:56 |
|
| 3. |
Tejay van Garderen |
BMC |
31:02:09 |
:13 |
| 7. |
Alberto Contador |
Tinkoff-Saxo |
31:02:32 |
:36 |
| 13. |
Vincenzo Nibali |
Astana |
31:03:44 |
1:48 |
| 16. |
Nairo Quintana |
Movistar |
31:03:52 |
1:56 |
Points (green jersey) standings
| Name |
Team |
Points |
| Peter Sagan |
Tinkoff-Saxo |
213 |
| Andre Greipel |
Lotto-Soudal |
210 |
| Mark Cavendish |
Etixx-Quick Step |
159 |
| John Degenkolb |
Giant-Alpecin |
158 |
| Bryan Coquard |
Europcar |
102 |
King of the Mountains (polka dot jersey) standings
| Name |
Team |
Points |
| Daniel Teklehaimanot |
MTN-Qhubeka |
4 |
| Alexis Vuillermoz |
AG2R |
2 |
| Joaquim Rodriguez |
Katusha |
2 |
| Michael Schar |
BMC |
1 |
| Romain Sicard |
Europcar |
1 |
| Rafal Majka |
Tinkoff-Saxo |
1 |
| Thomas De Gendt |
Lotto-Soudal |
1 |
| Chris Froome |
Sky |
1 |
| Dan Martin |
Cannondale-Garmin |
1 |