Tour de France 2022 LIVE result: Wout van Aert wins stage 8 in Lausanne sprint finish

Follow all the latest updates from the Tour de France as Tadej Pogacar continues in the yellow jersey

Wout van Aert wins stage eight on the line (REUTERS)

Belgian Wout van Aert won the eighth stage of the Tour de France on Saturday, a hilly 186.3-km ride from Dole to Lausanne.

The Jumbo-Visma rider prevailed in a reduced bunch sprint at the top of the Cote du Stade Olympique, a 4.8-km effort at an average gradient of 4.6%.

Australian Michael Matthews was second while Tadej Pogacar of Slovenia retained the overall leader’s yellow jersey by finishing third, picking up a four-second time bonus in the process.

Sunday’s ninth stage is a 192.9-km mountainous trek from Aigle, Switzerland, to Chatel.

Tour de France 2022 – stage 8

• Hilly 186km route from Dole, France to Lausanne, Switzerland
• Tadej Pogacar continued in yellow jersey with half-a-minute lead
• Wout van Aert sprints to stage victory for second win of 2022 Tour

[9 July 2022 13:18 · Lawrence Ostlere]

Tour de France 2022 – stage 8

A reminder of our breakaway trio: Mattia Cattaneo (QuickStep), Fred Wright (Bahrain Victorious) and Frederik Frison (Lotto-Soudal).

Catteneo, 31, is an Italian rider who finished 12th in last year’s Tour and has never won a grand tour stage. Englishman Wright is 2 and is riding in his second Tour – he finished second in last year’s British Championship road race and seventh in the Tour of Flanders in the spring. Frison, 29, has some good time trial pedigree, so overall it a strong trio, albeit one without experience of winning a stage. Whether they are allowed to go and contest the win by the peloton today remains to be seen.

[9 July 2022 13:12 · Lawrence Ostlere]

Tour de France 2022 – stage 8

145km to go: The intermediate sprint is coming shortly. The peloton has slowed slightly, with Jumbo-Visma reluctant to put in too much work all on their own, and now BikeExchange are helping out with the workload. Even so, this three-man breakaway has been allowed to move 3 min 30 sec up the road.

[9 July 2022 13:02 · Lawrence Ostlere]

Tour de France 2022 – stage 8

Here’s a look at what’s coming up for the rest of the race – a tough hilly stage tomorrow before the second rest day, and then the serious mountains of the Alps and Pyrenees await:

[9 July 2022 12:55 · Lawrence Ostlere]

Tour de France 2022 – stage 8

Now this is interesting – Jumbo-Visma have come to the front of the peloton to keep the breakaway on a tight leash. They might have designs on a Wout van Aert stage win, but they risk expending energy only to dangle the carrot of the day’s victory to Tadej Pogacar, who will fancy winning on this hilly finish if the break is caught and therefore gaining bonus seconds to increase his overall lead to Jumbo’s Jonas Vingegaard. Let’s see how this plays out.

[9 July 2022 12:51 · Lawrence Ostlere]

Tour de France 2022 – stage 8

Breaking: Kevin Vermaerke has abandoned the race. A pity – the American was one of those right at the heart of that crash.

Team DSM team’s American rider Kevin Vermaerke receives medical treatment (AFP via Getty Images)

[9 July 2022 12:49 · Lawrence Ostlere]

Tour de France 2022 – stage 8

Ben O’Connor has asked for medical assistance. The Australian Ag2R rider finished fourth last year and was in good form coming into the Tour after impressing at the Criterium du Dauphine, but he crashed on the cobbles of stage five and it looks like his Tour may be nearing an end.

[9 July 2022 12:47 · Lawrence Ostlere]

Tour de France 2022 – stage 8

160km to go: The peloton has really slowed its pace and that has allowed the breakaway to open up a gap of almost two minutes from the bunch. It is still very early days, but could the day’s winner come from this trio? A reminder of the breakers:

Mattia Cattaneo (QuickStep), Fred Wright (Bahrain Victorious) and Frederik Frison (Lotto-Soudal).

[9 July 2022 12:44 · Lawrence Ostlere]

Tour de France 2022 – stage 8

UAE Emirates come to the fore of the peloton with Tadej Pogacar’s yellow jersey up there too, and they wave the bunch to slow down, accepting the breakaway can go. Pogacar asserting his authority here.

[9 July 2022 12:37 · Lawrence Ostlere]

Tour de France 2022 – stage 8

A three-man breakaway had formed just before the crash, and they are now around 30 seconds clear up the road. The trio are Mattia Cattaneo (QuickStep), Fred Wright (Bahrain Victorious) and Frederik Frison (Lotto-Soudal).

[9 July 2022 12:34 · Lawrence Ostlere]

Tour de France 2022 – stage 8

A crash in the peloton! One went down in the middle of the bunch and a whole load of riders went down in a domino effect. Nairo Quintana, Peter Sagan and even race leader Tadej Pogacar were knocked over there, although Pogacar was going very slowly when he fell and is quickly back on his bike, as is most of the pack.