The first sixty kilometres of stage 8 at the Tour de France stage are flat, but then the peloton gets to the bottom of the mythic Tourmalet. From that moment, it only goes up and down, there is no time to recover. Just like yesterday the stage doesn’t end on top of a climb, but after a descent.

Thomas De Gendt previews the stage.

“I’d love to be part of today’s breakaway, but it’s wrong to think that it will be easy. If it’s an uphill start it’s much easier to escape the peloton. Today the first sixty kilometres are flat, so more riders will be interested in getting in the break," he said.

"Another factor is that the fight for the polka-dot jersey really begins. Everyone who has the ambition to conquer that jersey will want to get in the front group. I’m thinking of Majka, Navarro, Teklehaimanot, Rolland and Voeckler. It will be a hard battle for the fifty points today, but I need to be realistic: because of the four summit finishes with double points the GC riders also have a chance. It isn’t a goal to keep the jersey until Paris, I’m already happy I will have worn it for three days. That doesn’t mean that if I get in a breakaway the following weeks I won’t take the points.”