Sprint on speed or on power?

The sprinters have had to wait five days or so, but they're finally back in action in the eighth stage of the Tour de France, as the stage finishes in Laval. Although, the arrival also favors power sprinters. If guys like Mathieu van der Poel and Wout van Aert still have something left after a few days in the firing line, they can thwart the sprinters once again.

The eighth stage starts in Saint-Méen-le-Grand and counts 174 kilometers. The Breton city was a host in the Tour de France once before, when a rider won in Lorient later in the day who won't immediately ring a bell with the youngest cycling connoisseurs: Sylvain Calzati. The Frenchman achieved his only professional victory in the 2006 Tour in the stage that departed from Saint-Méen-le-Grand. Two years earlier, he had won the Tour de l'Avenir, although it was still accessible to professionals at that time. He occasionally scored a top result in smaller French stage races, but he never became a high-flyer.

The finish location Laval has more Tour history. Four years ago, Tadej Pogačar won an individual time trial here ahead of Stefan Küng and Jonas Vingegaard, with which the Slovenian laid the foundation for his second Tour victory AND we saw for the first time that the Dane had much more in him than being a super-domestique for Primož Roglič. Wout van Aert and Mathieu van der Poel - who had barely trained on the time trial bike before the Tour - finished fourth and fifth, which for the Dutchman meant that he admirably defended his yellow jersey that he had conquered on Mûr-de-Bretagne.

A podium like that probably isn't in the cards for Saturday. The entire stage is virtually flat, and the last three kilometers of the stage are straight along the Mayenne River to the finish. In the last 1.7 kilometers, 35 meters of elevation still need to be overcome, but it doesn't get really steep anywhere. But still: after a full week of racing, that small average gradient of 3% might be enough for the power sprinters.

Rank	Rider	Age	Team	Points
1	Mathieu Burgaudeau TotalEnergies	26	TotalEnergies
1	Mattéo Vercher TotalEnergies	24	TotalEnergies

Date	12 July 2025
Start	Saint-Méen-le-Grand
Finish	Laval
Distance	171.4 km
Elevation gain	1700 m
Type	Individual Road Race
Average Speed	44.63 km/h
Overall Profile	Flat
Finish Profile	False flat

Tour de France

Men Elite - 2.UWT