Tour de France 2022 Favourites stage 8: Finale for puncheurs

image: Cor VosThe 8th stage of the Tour de France is a hilly race with a a punchy finale in Lausanne. Perfect for the likes of Wout van Aert, Mathieu van der Poel and Michael Matthews. (Slideshow route/profile)

The riders clip into their pedals in Dole to enter the Haut Jura Regional Natural Park approximately 35 kilometer later. There is hardly a metre of flat in the unspoilt region right next to the Swiss border, although the uphill sections are not hard.

When crossing the Swiss border there are still 70 kilometres to go. Following a flat section along Lac de Joux and a short climb to the highest point of the day – at 1,176 metres – the riders descend towards Lake Geneva. Shortly they hit the finish climb.

The ascent is 4.8 kilometres long and averages 4.6%. The first 2 kilometres go up at 5.7% and then a flat kilometre makes way to the likely decisive part. After 1 kilometre at 9.5% and the final 800 metres at 3.4% the line appears shortly after the Stade Olympique de la Pontais.

The finish climb is not unlike the Mûr-de-Bretagne, where Mathieu van der Poel took a stage win and the maillot jaune in last year’s Tour de France. The Dutchman is a shadow of his former self, so it’s unilikely he will pull off something similar in Laussanne.

Favourites 8th stage 2022 Tour de France

*** Tom Pidcock, Michael Matthews, Wout van Aert, Alexis Vuillermoz
** Mathieu van der Poel, Maximilian Schachmann, Andrea Bagioli, Alberto Bettiol
* Tadej Pogacar, Primoz Roglic, Romain Bardet, Jonas Vingegaard, Benoît Cosnefroy

Another interesting read: route 8th stage 2022 Tour de France.