LAVAL, France (AP) — Italian rider Jonathan Milan timed his attack perfectly to win the eighth stage of the Tour de France in a sprint finish on Saturday.
Milan overtook Australian Kaden Groves on his left and held off Belgian rider Wout van Aert to beat him by about half a bike length.
Defending champion Tadej Pogačar kept the yellow jersey after finishing in the main pack.
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After Friday’s tough grind, the peloton set off at a slower pace on a sun-baked Stage 8, starting from the Brittany commune of Saint-Méen-le-Grand and taking riders 171 kilometers (106 miles) to Laval in western France.
The main teams had no will to set a high pace, so the peloton trundled along through country roads until two riders — French teammates Mathieu Burgaudeau and Matteo Vercher - broke away with about 80 kilometers left.
The peloton did not respond, continuing to roll at a lethargic pace for a long time with no team deciding to lead the chase.
But sprinters realized they were in danger of missing out on a stage win, so the peloton’s speed had to increase eventually, and the two riders were finally caught with nine kilometers left.
After a sinewy route near the finish, Stage 2 winner Mathieu van der Poel accelerated to put his Alpecin–Deceuninck teammate Groves into a good position, but they attacked a little too soon.
Milan anticipated this, made his own move and withstood Van Aert’s late attack behind him. The trio clocked 3 hours, 50 minutes.
In the overall standings, double Olympic champion Remco Evenepoel remained 54 seconds behind Pogačar in second place. Frenchman Kévin Vauquelin was third at 1 minutes, 11 seconds, and two-time Tour champion Jonas Vingegaard sat 1:17 behind in fourth spot.
Stage 9 of the three-week race heads into central France on a 158-kilometer flat stage for sprinters finishing in Châteauroux.
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