00:02it's another beautiful day in France it's absolutely roasting hot yet again for these
00:07riders they're having to deal with very high temperatures out on the bikes right now it's
00:15continuing to be quite fatiguing it's not about just one day is it it's about the accumulation
00:22of that heat and fatigue on riders if somebody wants something else then what up tell in the
00:36radio and we give it to Derek a flat run to Bergeret coming hot off the heels of the battle
01:04in Bordeaux
01:04Coy and Merlea have won so far who would triumph on a twisting finish under the boiling Saturday sun
01:10so there he is big attack left-hand side hopefully he's going to get a bit of help
01:23one rider alone is going to be a long day for him
01:35I'm going to be here Liam Stork, Thibaut Ganalec and Jakob Atrouba up the road never pushing past two
01:43minutes 30 a hard day is grabbed but it's well worth the effort on the Grand Boucle
01:50it's a joy to be I suppose in the front on the Tour de France stage yeah of course it's
01:56a it's a
01:57special day and normally long days like this in in breakaway I are quite hard but when it's when
02:03it's at the Tour it's it's different so in front I start to pull I guess Sudau and Alpesin
02:16targeting a back-to-back for Merlea but the Belgian would face fierce competition from Alpesin
02:21his compatriot Philipson targeting a stage win for the fifth Tour running Pedersen himself on the prowl for
02:29points a chance at the dress rehearsal the intermediate sprint a fight for points a bigger fight for the
02:34riders to keep their cool
02:47Gamay moving up now to get into the wheels Tim Malia is there big acceleration of NSN but here goes
02:56the
02:56sprint now as Pedersen opens up Cantor goes for it too Pedersen goes very early Merlea through the
03:02middle Pedersen being challenged but Philipson goes on the left-hand side and Philipson takes the
03:08intermediate sprint the sole category climb of the day the last chance saloon for a breakaway success
03:17Ortruba accelerated followed by Slok but the check ran out of puff as Lotto Intermarche's man kicked on
03:23alone could he possibly cancel the sprint off
03:27ok guys just some info from Tee he believes that they underestimate the breakaway so time
03:38got two minutes 46 kilometers to the finish
03:50Niko can you go to the front and pull please Niko
04:04Niko can you go to the front and pull please Niko
04:10jump straight around the lotto riders jump straight around the lotto riders
04:16so can he bring this home 28 seconds for Liam Slok in his debut in the Tour de France on
04:23the eighth stage there he is slightly uphill now he's in the sprint zone 5k to go he just needs
04:30to keep everything together 26 seconds it's coming down so fast now he's tying up a lot to go he
04:40just needs to keep everything together
04:40on the run into this finish in Bergerac
04:432 seconds 2 seconds 12 seconds still for Slok
04:478 seconds for Liam Slok you're kind of willing him to go all the way to the line but the
04:53peloton is hunting him down 1600 meters he checks again can he do this
05:00he's doing a great job there and he looked behind a lot of riders are swinging out of the line
05:04with the pace look at that only a little bubble there at the front but after that is all one
05:08behind the other
05:09he's gone he's finished he's sat up he's cracked
05:13300 meters before the right hand turn this is where we were talking about early on where positioning is going
05:17to be key
05:19heartbreak for Liam Slok after 176 kilometers in the breakaway front of the peloton now we get set for the
05:28finish
05:28and Jasper Steuven very early he was the last man yesterday in that sprint but he has to keep the
05:33pace up this is their corner everyone seems to be going around safe
05:37one kilometer go 500 meters kind of slightly dragged down and then you turn right into the final stretch
05:43what a finish this is gonna be somehow they brought him back
05:47XTS Astana maybe at the front a little bit too early
05:51riders are freewheeling Olaf Koi gets set Binyam Gamay is there
05:56Machu van der Poel looking to go through with Philipsen
06:00Philipsen is on his wheel van der Poel has got him
06:03Cantor is there on the outside
06:05Olaf Koi is ready now they open up the sprint
06:08450 meters to go
06:10Machu van der Poel ignites and goes forward
06:14and Jasper Philipsen is on the wheel
06:17Koi moves up on the outside
06:19Cantor is leaning on him
06:20Machu van der Poel 200 meters to go
06:24through the middle Tim Malia
06:27Tim Malia goes for the line now
06:29Tim Malia is going to win back to back stages for Malia
06:39Yeah, what a congrats guys this was very exciting
06:49Once again the blistering Belgian had too much raw pace to be denied
06:55Merle with Pedersen's green jersey in his sights
07:00Today you really showed you were the boss
07:04It didn't feel like this
07:08If you win one you can win a second
07:10and I'm happy on three stages I can two of it
07:16Sweet revenge after the defeat of Belgium in football
07:18Correct
07:29Five tour stage wins from three additions and four in the last two years
07:34The 33 year old getting better with age
07:36Philipsen in 2023 the last sprinter to do the back to back
07:40Another day in hibernation for the yellow jersey
07:43Will Pogacar and UAE come to life on stage nine
07:46or keeping cruise control until after the resting?
07:50Pedersen retaining the green jersey
07:51but the Dane is under much more pressure
07:53Merle hoovering up points just 15 behind
07:58Pogacar in polka dots but four category climbs tomorrow
08:01mean there could be some movement in the standings on the arrival in Oussel
08:07Del Toro in the white jersey
08:09UAE in possession of three of the five
08:11Can their domination continue?
08:15Now time to try a cooldown
08:17and go again
