Lilian Calmejane (Direct Energie) claimed his first Tour de France stage win in stage 8, surviving out of a large breakaway on a blazing fast mountain stage. Robert Gesink (LottoNL-Jumbo) gave chase but could not manage to close the gap, and came in second place 37 seconds later. Guillaume Martin of Wanty Groupe-Gobert led the peloton across at 50 seconds.
"It's incredible. Since the start of the Tour we've been at the front, but I never thought it would lead to a success like this," Calmejane. "I'm a rider who likes to animate the race, and I said to my teammates I wanted to try something today. They did such great work today, they allowed me to realise my dream, of winning a stage at the Tour.
"I never imagined such a scenario. I thought that when we went to seven in the break we might have a chance of contesting the stage, but to win solo like that, it's incredible."
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A large group of some 50 riders formed about halfway through a stage that averaged a painful 47kph over the first 90 minutes. The lead peloton splintered and reformed, going through multiple transformations until the 24-year-old Calmejane moved into a six-man splinter group near the top of the day's second climb.
That same group took on the closing climb, but fell apart. With some 18km left on the day, and the mountaintop coming in 7km, Calmejane took off on his own. Only Gesink was able to follow but was never able to get close.
It was the second Grand Tour victory for Calmejane, who won a stage at the 2016 Vuelta a Espana. This season he has won the overall titles at the Settimana International Coppi e Bartali, Etoile de Besseges, and the Circuit de la Sarthe, as well as the mountains classification at Paris-Nice.
How it unfolded
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