Tour de France 2025 Stage 8 LIVE - Another fast, flat stage sets up Jonathan Milan and Tim Merlier rematch

I mean, part of me would rather not, but that finish was quite special. Almost made it worth it. I think tomorrow's more for Merlier though.

Vincenzo Nibali the last Italian rider to win at the men's Tour de France in 2019. Milan's Lidl-Trek team-mate Gaia Realini of course won at the Tour de France Femmes last year. That's quite a stat.

And owning the green jersey, thanks to a maximum 70 points taken today, taking him to 192, 36 ahead of Tadej Pogacar and 68 more than his closest sprint rival Biniam Girmay.

To Groves for finding his way through a lot of traffic and back onto Van der Poel's wheel with 500 to go. MVDP was at that point boxing his way out of a crowd himsef. Milan was right behind his last man, second row, and had to respond to Van der Poel's surge as IPT riders got in his way. There's a lot that happens in the final seconds of a bunch sprint like this!

Kaden Groves having lost the wheel of Van der Poel looked to come up Milan's inside through the chicane and he made a mess of it, putting riders behind him into trouble as well as himself. He then had a massive effort to make to get back up to the front four, which may have been why he seemed to lack final sprint speed.

Where are ya? Doubters silenced. Jonathan Milan may have had doubts of his own, but he's a winner.

Mathieu van der Poel was the perfect lead-out but in the end it was more for Milan than the Australian, who didn't have the legs. The moment the Dutchman went pop, Groves tried to sprint but seemed to fade almost as fast. Milan went like a rocket and only Van Aert could stay in the same overhead shot but although it wasn't easy, the result was never really in doubt. Pure power to take it by a length and a half.

He and we were right that the finish suited him to a tee. He didn't need a lead-out, he just needed to turn it on in the final few hundred metres. His positioning was perfect and although it looked as if Wout van Aert might draw level, the Belgian never seemed likely to come past, and in the end he had to fall back behind the wheel. That was a mighty win for Milan.

No-one's opened up yet. Milan's lost his lead-out.

A gap to close before the road begins to rise. The final 700m are at 4%.

Big chainrings but they're spinning out anyway. Fred Wright doing a great job for Bauhaus as they go downhill.

Real scramble for position here. It's going to get very fast here. Where are Intermarche?

Red Bull will be for Danny van Poppel. Through the safety now, but gaps can still matter. Alpecin in control now.

Mohoric sweeping around and then looking for his sprinter before preparing to drop him off.

Danger lies around every corner.

Visma are also visible. For Wout? Or just Jonas? The yellow jersey is a fair way back down the line.

But it's over, or will be imminently. A reminder that the safety zone today is 5km from the finish. Local sprinter Paul Penhoet (Groupama FDJ) has had a mechanical of his zone, as Tim Merlier is already back in the peloton.

It's not the worst time, but it certainly could have come at a better one. He's got a job to do to chase back to the front for this one, given the clip they're going. It'll take a lot out of him.