Tour de France 2023 | Mads Pedersen wins in the sprint after a big fight against Jasper Philipsen

This time, Jasper Philipsen had to bow. In Limoges, at the end of an 8th stage marked by the abandonment of Mark Cavendish (Astana Qazaqstan Team) and the falls of Simon Yates (Jayco-AlUla) and Milan Landa (Bahrain-Victorious), the Belgian from Alpecin-Deceuninck came across a bone named Mads Pedersen. The Dane from Lidl-Trek launched his sprint 300 meters from the line to resist Philipsen and Wout VAN Aert (Jumbo-Visma, 3rd). Jonas Vingegaard remains in yellow before the Puy-de-Dôme while Yates and Landa have lost 47”.

The work of the Lidl-Trek has paid off. All day, the American formation worked with a view to a sprint in the streets of Limoges. However, on paper, the scenario for this 8th stage was very undecided with a hilly route in the second part of the stage which favored a victorious breakaway, but Lidl-Trek and Lotto-Dstny filtered the various attacks perfectly. The trio Tim Declercq (Soudal-Quick Step)-Anthony Delaplace (Arkéa-Samsic)-Anthony Turgis (TotalEnergies) certainly had a lead of almost five minutes but the peloton was never really worried about it. The counter by Kasper Asgreen (Soudal-Quick Step) 37 kilometers from the finish could have been a danger if someone had accompanied the Dane on his adventure. Alone, there was nothing to do.

Yates and Landa losers of the day

But this 8th stage was especially marked by falls. That of Mark Cavendish (Astana Qazaqstan Team), already, fell 61 kilometers away and forced to retire, visibly hit in the collarbone. A blow for the Briton, who will probably never beat Merckx’s record, 24 hours after being 50 meters from achieving it, in Bordeaux. Six kilometers from the finish, Simon Yates (Jayco-AlUla), Milan Landa (Bahrain-Victorious) and Steff Cras (TotalEnergies) went down. Left but arrived 47” behind, the Briton and the Spaniard respectively lost two (6th at 4’01”) and three places (14th at 6’36”) while the Belgian from TotalEnergies, 13th this morning, was forced to retire.

Under the red flame, despite the work of the Jumbo-Visma to toughen up, the majority of the expected sprinters were still present. Perfectly led, Van Aert was the favorite but the Belgian was hampered by his own pilot fish Laporte when Van der Poel overtook him, Philipsen stuck in the wheel. And it was Mads Pedersen who surprised everyone by throwing along the barriers 250 meters from the finish. It was very far but the Dane never stalled to resist the return of the Belgian from Alpecin-Deceuninck and offer himself the second stage victory of his career on the Tour. But, this one, he went to get it in the sprint, in front of all the big names. A victory that rewards the perfect day for the Lidl-Treks.