Nans Peters (AG2R La Mondiale) won stage 8 of the Tour de France, after proving the strongest man of a 13-rider breakaway in the ride to Loudenvielle.
The Frenchman beat Toms Skujins (Trek-Segafredo) and Carlos Verona (Movistar) by 47 seconds, having dropped eventual fourth-placed man Ilnur Zakarin (CCC Team) on the descent of the day’s penultimate climb, the Port de Balès.
Peters went solo on the descent of the Port de Balès and rode the Peyresourde alone to claim his second Grand Tour stage victory, but the biggest news of the day was the implosion of Thibaut Pinot (Groupama-FDJ) on the day’s final climb.
The Frenchman was dropped 41km from the finish, possibly suffering from injuries sustained in a stage 1 crash. He finished minutes down and out of the overall picture.
Adam Yates (Mitchelton-Scott) retains the race lead heading into the second day of the Pyrenean doubleheader on Sunday. He was distanced several times on the Peyresourde but came back to hold on to his three-second lead over Primoz Roglic (Jumbo-Visma).
Ryan Gibbons, in the blue of NTT Pro Cycling, crossed the line in 116th position, 32min 39sec behind Peters after 4hr 34min 51sec of riding. Daryl Impey, of Mitchelton-Scott, was again in the same group and handed 123rd position.
Overall, Impey is 132nd and Gibbons 148th. There are 13 minutes between the two South Africans.
NTT Pro Cycling sprinter Giacomo Nizzolo was ruled out of the remainder of the Tour after being forced to stop during the course of the stage due to a lower leg injury.
