Tour de France 2023: Pedersen wins stage eight, Vingegaard retains overall lead
The HinduDenmark’s Mads Pedersen won the eighth stage of the Tour de France, a 200-km ride from Libourne on Saturday. However, Mark Cavendish’s hopes of breaking the record for stage wins at the Tour de France ended in cruel fashion when the Briton crashed out of this year’s race, which he has long said will be his last. Cavendish’s withdrawal comes on the day Philipsen was beaten for the first time in a sprint this year, as the Belgian took second place behind former world champion Pedersen. Defending champion Jonas Vingegaard retained the overall leader’s yellow jersey with a 25-second advantage over Tadej Pogacar with Australian Jai Hindley in third place, 1:34 off the pace. Poulidor’s grandson Mathieu van der Poel, who won a stage on the Tour and wore the yellow jersey in 2021 and has been one of the best classics riders in recent years, said it would be an “emotional” stage, having spent summer holidays in the small central France town.