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2017 Tour de France: Stage 8 live race updates, blog

Roar Guru
8th July, 2017
Start: Dole
Finish: Sation des Rousses
Distance: 187.5km
TV: Live, SBS
Online: Live, Cycling Central
Richie Porte's Tour de France is over after a horror crash on Stage 9. (Jean-Christophe Bott/Keystone via AP)
Roar Guru
8th July, 2017
115

Stage 8 brings the second mountainous challenge of the 2017 Tour de France. Join The Roar tonight to follow the live coverage from 9:30pm (AEST).

Three categorised climbs are on the menu in today’s 187.5km journey from Dole – Sation des Rousses culminating in a category one ascent cresting near the finish, a day that could see another GC showdown or maybe the first successful breakaway of the race.

The first 95km of today’s route is best described as lumpy tailor-made for a strong breakaway to form on the undulating terrain.

After 95km of hard racing the riders face the first categorised climb of the day a category 3 ascent measuring 6.1km at a gentle 4.7 per cent.

The lengthy descent of the Col de la Joux takes the riders to the foot of the category 2 Cote de Viry 7.6km in length and averaging a modest 5.2 per cent.

After completing the Cote de Viry the riders have an undulating descent to the final climb of the day the Montée de la Combe de Laisia les Molunes (11.7km, 6.7 per cent).

The gradient of the climb fluctuates throughout the ascent with its steeper sections reaching 12 per cent.

The combination of the climb summiting 12km from the finish and its moderate difficulty shouldn’t see much of a shakeup in the GC and doesn’t lend itself to attacks from the main contenders.

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The riders face a 6km descent after the summit followed by a 3km incline to the finish.

Prediction
The route today should see the first breakaway of the race succeed as the GC teams keep their powder dry for the more stern mountain tests that await.

The overall contenders will be content to let a large group ride away for the stage win while closing marking each other on the final climb ensuring no time gaps.

With a breakaway more the likely to succeed picking a stage winner is really a shot in the dark.

However a rider like Steve Cummings is known for targeting stages like this at big races and more often than not he takes the win.

Be sure to join The Roar for live coverage of Stage 8 from 10pm (AEST) and don’t forget to add a comment in the section below.

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