Favorites stage 8 Tour de France 2023 | When Van Aert says he's going for it, then...

On Sunday, we will explore the region of Clermont-Ferrand and tackle the Puy de Dome. But first, to get there, the riders will have to cross France. The eighth stage between Libourne and Limoges presents the perfect opportunity for IDLProCycling.com to dive in and give you all the details!

Course stage 8 Tour de France 2023

So we start in Libourne, which is located just northeast of Bordeaux, Friday's finish location. Departing from this town, the riders won't encounter many obstacles in the first hundred kilometers, which we can classify as flat. After eighty kilometers, there is an intermediate sprint in Tocane-Saint-Apre, where the fast guys can once again battle for points for the green jersey.

After a little over 120 kilometers, the riders begin the ascent of the Cote de Champs-Romain, and then we continue riding on a sort of plateau until the finish in Limoges. In the Limousin region, the riders will constantly be riding at an elevation of about 300 meters above sea level, so we are saving the real mountains for Sunday's stage.

However, as fans, we won't exactly find ourselves be lulled to sleep because the final phase of this stage actually looks quite interesting. In the last fifty kilometers of this 200 kilometer stage, the course constantly goes up and down, although it never really gets steep or long at any point.

The Tour organization could have chosen to distribute points on a few more hills earlier on in the finale, but they ultimately limited their choice to just two: the Cote de Masmont (1.3 kilometers at 5.5 percent gradient, fifteen kilometers from the finish) and Cote de Condat-sur-Vienne (1.2 kilometers at 5.4 percent gradient, with only ten kilometers to go). These climbs in the finale will undoubtedly push some sprinters to their limits and make the lactic acid build up.

There won't be too much time for the fastest of the riders to recover, and they won't be particularly thrilled about the final kilometers either. After the final climb, the route descends rapidly until three kilometers from the finish, and then after two turns in the final kilometer, the last seven hundred meters go uphill at around four percent gradient.

Times
Start: 12:45 p.m.
Finish: approximately 5:07 p.m.

Weather stage 8 Tour de France 2023

Saturday will be hot throughout most of Europe - and that includes France. Temperatures around 30 degrees Celsius are expected around the starting location of Libourne and the finishing town of Limoges, while a light wind will blow in the riders' backs throughout the day.

Favorites stage 8 Tour de France 2023

When Wout van Aert sets his sights on something, you better watch out. The Belgian Jumbo-Visma rider decided not to mingle with the sprint madness in Friday's stage towards Bordeaux, as Saturday's stage suits him much better. Van Aert has only one personal goal in this Tour, and that is to win stages, so he will probably be eager to start doing so in Limoges. Also, keep an eye on his teammate Christophe Laporte, as he too is perfectly capable of excelling in a finish like this.

Belgian national coach Sven Vanthourenhout has a good reason to be in Limoges on Saturday, as it presents a great opportunity for Jasper Philipsen to showcase his abilities on such terrain, leading up to the World Championships in Glasgow. Philipsen, who has been on a roll in this Tour de France, is an excellent climber and should certainly handle this stage well. Mathieu van der Poel also hinted that he fancies this stage.

Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) hasn't really shown his true potential in this Tour so far, but he also gets a golden opportunity to do so with a slightly uphill finish like this. In addition, he can rely on Jasper Stuyven - who is a Laporte-style rider - for support, which is also the case for Biniam Girmay and Mike Teunissen of Intermarché-Circus-Wanty.

After his lackluster sprint on Friday, Caleb Ewan hinted that he fancies this stage, and who can blame him? The Australian rider can handle a climb, but a succession of climbs like the ones in this stage can prove to be quite challenging. Bryan Coquard (Cofidis), on the other hand, should be capable of handling them, so a nice podium position seems within his reach.

Other fast riders - let's say Corbin Strong (Israel-Premier Tech), Magnus Cort (EF Education-EasyPost) and Alex Aranburu (Movistar) - struggle to position themselves in a pure sprint, but they could be in the mix here. For tough guys such as Alexander Kristoff (Uno-X), Peter Sagan (TotalEnergies) and Jordi Meeus (BORA-hansgrohe), this stage will promise to be a real challenge, so perhaps this is an opportunity for Danny van Poppel.

If we're being honest, we give Dylan Groenewegen (Jayco AlUla), Mark Cavendish (Astana Qazaqstan Team), and Phil Bauhaus (Bahrain Victorious) less chance here because the multiple climbs, combined with a slightly uphill final kilometer, are usually too much for the truly speed-focused riders in the Tour.

Who knows, we might even witness a Calais 2022 scenario, where Jumbo-Visma comfortably watches as Van Aert climbs his way towards the stage in Limoges. In that case, we should even consider Tadej Pogacar (UAE-Team Emirates), Tom Pidcock (INEOS Grenadiers) and perhaps Mattias Skjelmose (Lidl-Trek). However, will the race really unfold that way? We might lean more towards a strong breakaway scenario with riders like Kasper Asgreen (Soudal Quick-Step), Fred Wright and Matej Mohoric (Bahrain Victorious).

Favorites stage 8 Tour de France 2023, according to IDLProCycling.com

Top favorites: Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck) and Wout van Aert (Jumbo-Visma) 
Outsiders: Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek), Biniam Girmay (Intermarché-Circus-Wanty), Bryan Coquard (Cofidis) and Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck)
Longshots: Tadej Pogacar (UAE-Team Emirates), Caleb Ewan (Lotto-Dstny), Christophe Laporte (Jumbo-Visma), Corbin Strong (Israel-Premier Tech), Fred Wright (Bahrain Victorious), Danny van Poppel (BORA-hansgrohe), Alex Aranburu (Movistar) and Magnus Cort (EF Education-EasyPost)

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