Chris Froome’s first downhill victory

Tour de France 2016 | Stage 8 | Pau > Bagnères-de-Luchon

51km in the first hour of racing

 

198 riders started stage 8 in Pau. Matthieu Ladagnous (FDJ) tried to go away before passing by his house after 15km of racing but the pace of race was too high. 51km were covered in the first hour of racing. Many skirmishes took place but no breakaway took shape before Mikaël Chérel (AG2R-La Mondiale) and Dani Navarro (Cofidis) rode away at km 59. Thirteen riders gathered at the front before the intermediate sprint won at km 67 by Michael Matthews (Orica-BikeExchange) at the bottom of the Tourmalet: Wout Poels (Sky), Jesus Herrada (Movistar), Luis Leon Sanchez (Astana), Jasper Stuyven (Trek-Segafredo), Stef Clement (IAM), Dylan van Baarle (Cannondale-Drapac), Tom Dumoulin (Giant), Paul Voss (Bora), Ilnur Zakarin (Katusha), Romain Sicard (Direct Energie), Navarro, Chérel and Matthews.

 

Thibaut Pinot first at the Tourmalet

 

Thibaut Pinot (FDJ) attacked from the main peloton on the sprint line as he anticipated the ascent to the Tourmalet. The Frenchman was accompanied by Rafal Majka (Tinkoff) and briefly by Arnold Jeannesson (Cofidis) who was overtaken by Tony Martin (Etixx-Quick Step). The German rejoined Pinot and Majka 6km before the top of the Tourmalet. He struggled in the last kilometers but made it back in the downhill after Pinot crested the legendary climb in first position and therefore cashed in the 5000-euros Souvenir Jacques-Goddet prime. From 2.20 atop the Tourmalet, Team Sky brought the difference down to 1.10 at La Hourquette d'Ancizan with 64km to go.

 

Froome's surprise attack at the top of Peyresourde

 

6km before the top of Val Louron, Pinot and Martin were reeled in, so was Majka one kilometer further. At the summit, Team Sky denied Majka the possibility to catch ten points for the King of the Mountains competition. However, the Pole who already won the polka dot jersey in 2014 took the lead with one point ahead of Pinot. The front group was made of 33 riders but reduced to 14 in the last kilometer of the ascent to col de Peyresourde after several attacks by Romain Bardet and Sergio Henao. More surprisingly, Chris Froome attacked at the top of the last hill to make a gap for himself in the downhill. With 5km to go, he had 25 seconds lead over the Quintana group while Alberto Contador was more than one minute adrift. Froome soloed to victory and took the lead in the overall ranking.

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