The Dane Mads Pedersen has won the eighth stage in the Tour de France after a bunch sprint. In the stage from Libourne to Limoges, with a slightly uphill finish, Pedersen was ahead of his Belgian competitors Jasper Philipsen and Wout van Aert. Dutchman Dylan Groenewegen finished fourth in the long, tough sprint. Jens Vingegaard retains the yellow jersey, followed by Tadej Pogacar at 25 seconds.
The eighth stage was mainly the stage of the fall and the exit of Mark Cavendish. The 38-year-old British sprinter from Astana took part in this Tour with the aim of breaking the record for the most Tour de France stage wins held by Belgian Eddy Merckx. Both are on 34 day victories. Cavendish came just short of the thirty-fifth victory in Bordeaux on Friday, when he finished second just behind Jasper Philipsen. The Brit previously announced that he would stop after this season.
Stage winner Pedersen praised his Lidl-Trek teammates for their preliminary work afterwards. “We stayed calm and despite the long sprint I had the legs to finish it off.” He also had nice words for his colleague Cavendish, whom he encouraged. “It was a pleasure to race with Mark. It is sad that such a legend has to leave the Tour in this way.”
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