Peters wins Tour stage in Pyrenees; Pinot’s hopes of win crushed

On a day of mixed feelings for the home nation, rookie Nans Peters won the eighth stage of the Tour de France following a long breakaway in the Pyrenees, while fellow Frenchman Thibaut Pinot saw his hopes of winning the race vanish.

Peters was part of a group of 13 riders who broke away Saturday in the early stages of the 141-kilometer (87.5-mile) stage featuring three punishing ascents to the town of Loudenvielle.

Peters and Ilnur Zakarin moved away from their breakaway companions in the grueling Port de Bales climb. The Frenchman then used his downhill abilities to drop his Russian rival in the descent and never looked back.

“It’s crazy for my first Tour,“said Peters, who rides for French outfit AG2R-La Mondiale. “I realized he was really bad in the downhill, I played on my strengths.“

Yellow jersey holder Adam Yates and other Tour contenders, including defending champion Egan Bernal and favorite Primoz Roglic, crossed the finish line 6 minutes, 40 seconds later.

Overall, Yates has a three-second lead over Roglic, with Frenchman Guillaume Martin completing the podium six seconds further back.

The stage destroyed Pinot, who cracked in the Port de Bales.

Riding at the back with other contenders, Pinot, who crashed last week at the end of Stage 1 and did not fully recover, was dropped in the day’s second ascent. He was accompanied by three teammates who gently patted him on the shoulders and tried to spur him on. Touching his lower back, Pinot could not react and his Tour hopes are effectively over — he reached the finish more than 25 minutes after Peters.