PREVIEW | Tour de France 2025 stage 8 - Jonathan Milan and Tim Merlier main favourites for bunch sprint; But can Girmay surprise?
Cycling
The 2025 Tour de France will be the biggest and most important race of the season and will be taking place between the 5th and 27th of July. This is the sport's climax of the season and every year it delivers memorable action. We preview stage 8.
Another stage for the pure sprinters, a transition day through the French territory ending in the city of Laval. A transition day without anything serious to analyze, as there will be no climbing whatsoever during the day, but instead all eyes in the final sprint.
It won't be an easy one. The speed will be very high taking into consideration how there will be nothing throughout the day to fatigue the riders at a meaningful level. There will be a few roundabouts that'll stretch the peloton and then the last 1.3 kilometers have a slight uphill gradient.
It will make for an interesting sprint, not a pure one, but one where form and climbing legs may also be quite meaningful. All-in-all, the gradients won't likely be high enough to exclude anyone from contention.
The Weather
An eastern breeze throughout the entire day means that we will have a headwind throughout most of the stage. Bad news for those hoping for a breakaway - I believe that after what we saw on stage 3, there is a good chance that once again there simply won't be anyone wanting to join the breakaway even if for TV exposure. But, we will have a tailwind sprint.
The Favourites
The thing is I don't expect in any way for there to be a breakaway that'll need a hard chase. At the start of the day I was wondering if Alpecin-Deceuninck would be willing to pace throughout the day as they have Silvan Dillier here for that task, but the reality is without Philipsen they have no responsibility whatsoever. But between Lidl-Trek and Intermarché - Wanty (or even Alpecin still) there will be some sort of small push just to make sure nothing gets out of hand.
Jonathan Milan - Lidl-Trek know exactly what to do and just have to execute their plan. An in-form team, a leadout with both quantity and quality.. I believe they will be able to deliver the Italian powerhouse to Italy's first stage win in several years at the Tour.
Tim Merlier - Quick-Step has been suffering with crashes and Remco Evenepoel has lost his (so far) right-hand man for the flat stages. With him in second, the team has to spend even more resources to protect him and I fear Merlier will have a rough time in the final kilometers.
Jordi Meeus on paper would be as much of a favourite as the two above taking into consideration his abilities and his leadout which includes Danny van Poppel - but the crash on stage 3 and his injuries may come in the way of him being able to perform at his best. We had very fast men such as Soren Waerenskjold and Phil Bauhaus to the list of the main men to take into consideration, whilst of course never neglecting Biniam Girmay who hasn't been looking as sharp as last year but has been consistent and will always be in search of as many points as possible in pursuit of the green jersey.
Add to the mix Marijn van den Berg, Paul Penhoët, Alberto Dainese, Dylan Groenewegen, Arnaud Démare, Bryan Coquard, Cees Bol, Pavel Bittner, Pascal Ackermann and Arnaud de Lie and we've still got a luxurious sprinter battle despite the withdrawals we've had so far and also the crashes that have been affecting the sprints so far. It will also be very interesting to see exactly what Alpecin do as Mathieu van der Poel is now looking to score points for the green jersey, but equally the team has in Kaden Groves an outsider for victory. It might be that both will have freedom to do their own sprint.
Read also
Prediction Tour de France 2025 stage 8:
*** Tim Merlier, Jonathan Milan
** Jordi Meeus, Kaden Groves, Biniam Girmay, Soren Waerenskjold
* Phil Bauhaus, Alberto Dainese, Dylan Groenewegen, Bryan Coquard, Pavel Bittner, Pascal Ackermann, Mathieu van der Poel
** Jordi Meeus, Kaden Groves, Biniam Girmay, Soren Waerenskjold
* Phil Bauhaus, Alberto Dainese, Dylan Groenewegen, Bryan Coquard, Pavel Bittner, Pascal Ackermann, Mathieu van der Poel
Pick: Jonathan Milan
How: This time around, with a tailwind, being in front for the final sprint will be crucial. Tim Merlier will not be able to go through Milan if it comes down to regular circumstances.
Original: Rúben Silva
Rúben SilvaEditor-in-Chief
A founding contributor to CyclingUpToDate since its launch in January 2022, Ruben Silva has played a central role in shaping the site’s editorial direction and long-term growth. Before joining the project, he built his experience through independent blogging at Echelons Hub and by producing race previews for Ciclismo Internacional, developing a strong analytical voice rooted in daily engagement with professional cycling.
Beyond editorial work, he has been closely involved in the expansion and coordination of CyclingUpToDate’s wider network, helping establish and support sister platforms across multiple languages. This includes ongoing collaboration with CiclismoAlDia (Spanish), CiclismoAtual (Portuguese), WielrennenUpToDate (Dutch), and RadsportAktuell (German), contributing to a shared editorial vision and consistent international coverage.
He also helps oversee editorial governance across the network, setting standards for accuracy and consistency and coordinating updates or corrections when needed.
Originally from the Porto metropolitan area in Portugal, he holds a bachelor’s degree in Geography. His path into cycling journalism was shaped not through formal media training, but through independent reporting, community engagement, and sustained on-the-ground involvement in the sport.
Over the course of his career, he has conducted approximately 100 interviews across road cycling and cyclocross, ranging from one-to-one conversations and online formats to press conferences and on-site pre- and post-race coverage. His interviews include leading riders, team managers, and prominent figures within cycling media: Tadej Pogacar, Jonas Vingegaard, Mathieu van der Poel, Primoz Roglic, Wout van Aert, Joao Almeida and Tom Pidcock; managers like Patrick Lefevere and Joxean Matxin; and YouTube personality Bryan Kennedy (BKXC)...
Within 18 months of launch, he helped grow CyclingUpToDate’s English-language platform into one of the most-read cycling news websites, built entirely from the ground up. As both a professional journalist and lifelong cycling enthusiast, his focus remains on delivering accurate, timely, and well-contextualized coverage.
claps 1visitors 1
Just in
Popular news
Latest comments
- many people advise him to grow slowly and rather do giro and/or vuelta instead of tdf. but i can totally understand that he is not satisfied with taking over once pogi declines, but instead beat him in his prime. so if he goes for tdf again, i‘m all for it. let‘s hope that pogi recovers soon!Ketterechts07-11-2026
- So gracious to offer something no-one would be prepared to pay for. The Giro is not the Tour and doesn’t command the same interest or attract the same “elite” (those willing to pay to be a part of something they consider has ego boosting potential). Roadside viewing will always largely remain free for everyone outside circuits. Introduction of a symbolic entrance to mountain climbs is worthy of exploration. Asking 1-2€ isn’t going to repulse real fans (most will spend 50-100€ on their outing that day all things included) but will prevent a portion of the total knobhead thrillseekers who will join in any large gathering as long as it’s free, just because they’re attracted to crowds, without which it it difficult for them to work up their anti-social behaviour.Jumpyjohn07-11-2026
- How is radio going to help when someone went over a cliff or bridge or off the roadside into a forest unnoticed and is laying there unconscious?Jumpyjohn07-11-2026
- Yep, next we’ll be accusing F1 drivers of avoiding Le Mans.Jumpyjohn07-11-2026
- But on what is that opinion based? Are you holding him to a different standard than others? Are you saying he should do learn to like something he doesn’t Are you saying he hasn’t achieved enough Are you saying he pretends to be better than his results? It’s actually a really strange opinion to oust if you consider it objectively or rationally. Try applying it to others or yourself by asking if not EVERYONE should then be doing more? Nobody in athletics or swimming gets criticism for not expanding their repertoire when a rival or someone else does. In fact, most who move to another event get accused of running from their rival. Opinions are boring, the reasons behind them are what count.Jumpyjohn07-11-2026
- for a medical chief to throw things like is just bad. There are already radios which were banned for spectacle. allow radios. Gps trackers are not a complete solutionabstractengineer07-11-2026
- Yeah man...PogiSloFans07-11-2026
- any rider less than 25 whether they are really ready for the position of leadership of GT is probably not the case. I think Pogi himself suffered when he was defeated by Jonas in the TDF twice. But that would be the team's job to ensure support so that they can bounce back. It requires a team and time to get back up and win after getting knocked down.abstractengineer07-11-2026
- I'm very glad he got the big late Quickstep Vuelta win and I hope he has a few left for Euskaltel-Euskadi.flyer07-11-2026
- My memories of Ivan Basso aren't good but I liked his sister Elisa ok.flyer07-11-2026
Loading
Write a comment