Cycling in Yorkshire & Beyond
Cycling in Yorkshire & Beyond
Stage 8 of the Tour de France 2025 is a 174km flat stage from Saint-Méen-le-Grand to Laval Espace Mayenne.
The roads are flat and sheltered from the wind, so it's likely to be a bunch sprint.
The final kilometre is something of an uphill drag, which means it could possibly favour riders like Biniam Girmay or Wout van Aert more than the pure sprinters.
This is the race report for Stage 8 Tour de France 2025.
These are video highlights of Stage 8.
Race Details | Poll | Map & Profile | Timings | Videos | Food & Drink | Route Notes | Favourites
| Date | Saturday 12th July 2025 |
|---|---|
| Stage classification | Flat |
| Distance | 171.4km |
| Intermediate sprint | Vitré |
| Climbs | Côte de Nuillé-sur-Vicoin (Cat. 4) |
| Total climbing | 1,700m |
Vote for one of the main contenders to win Stage 8.
This is a map of the route of Stage 8, Tour de France 2025.
This is a zoom-able map of Stage 8 Tour de France 2025.
This is the profile of Stage 8 Tour de France 2025.
| Caravan | Fast Schedule | Slow Schedule | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Start Time (départ fictif) | 1110 |
1310 |
1310 |
| Start Time (départ réel) | 1125 |
1325 |
1325 |
| Intermediate Sprint Vitré | 1324 |
1514 |
1524 |
| Côte de Nuillé-sur-Vicoin Climb | 1501 |
1643 |
1701 |
| Finish Line (171.4km) | 1524 |
1704 |
1724 |
This is a video of the route of Stage 8 Tour de France 2025.
Stage 5 of the 2021 Tour de France was an individual time trial that finished in Laval.
Stage 8 is from Saint-Méen-le-Grand, in Brittany, to Laval, in the Mayenne.
Cheeses are produced in the Mayenne, including Bons Mayennais Camembert.
There are monasteries in the Mayenne which produce food and drink and sell it to the public. Products includes fruit jellies and cider.
A business in Soulgé-sur-Ouette specialises in products based on elderflower and elderberries.
The Mayenne is known for making confectionary including sugared almonds and chocolates. One of the companies in this industry is Réauté, from Château-Gontier.
Since the Stage starts in Brittany, you could drink Brittany cider to accompany it. Buy 12 bottles of Brittany cider (affiliate link).
The stage starts in Saint-Méen-le-Grand (départ fictif).
Stage 8 starts in Saint-Méen-le-Grand.
The village was chosen because of its connection to a great Tour de France cyclist, Louison Bobet. Bobet was the son of the village baker, and he won the Tour in 1953, 1954 and 1955. He was also World Champion in 1954.
In this short video, local people are asked about their plans for the day when the 2025 Tour de France is in town.
The stage starts near the Louison Bobet Museum in Saint-Méen-le-Grand, and the peloton leaves town on Rue Louison Bobet, then on the D125 heading for Boisgervilly.
The départ réel is on the D125 before Boisgervilly.
The first town of any size on the Stage 8 route is Montauban-de-Bretagne.
In this video, a young inhabitant of Montauban-de-Bretagne bigs up the town.
The riders continue east to Romillé, Gévezé, La Mézière and Melesse. They are passing to the north of Rennes here.
They cross the river Ille and the Canal d'Ille et Rance at Chevaigné.
Next on the route are Saint-Sulpice-la-Forêt, Chasné-sur-Illet, and Liffré. Canon cameras has a plant in Liffré; Liffré is twinned with Wendover.
Then Stage 8 heads south east over the river Veuve to La Bouxière and Champeaux, before reaching Vitré for the intermediate sprint.
The intermediate sprint is at Vitré, after 85.5km raced.
Green jersey competition: from 20 points for 1st place down to 1 point for 15th place.
Vitré is a town of 19,000 people on the river Vilaine.
It first appeared in a historical document in the year 1000, when Duke Geoffrey I of Brittany granted powers to a local lord.
A wooden castle was built around that time, then replaced with a stone edifice in 1070.
Half-timbered houses were built in the 1400s. In the 1500s, more mansions were built by merchants who grew rich from trade in locally-produced hemp.
Skiing Made Easy is a practical guide to learning to ski based on many happy seasons of ski teaching.
It takes you through the beginner's progression from snowplough to parallel turns, starting at the very beginning and not assuming any prior knowledge.
The book suggests relevant exercises to develop and improve your skills. Common faults are identified, along with the best ways to correct them.
'By the way' sections contain information about many of the little things that people assume you just know, but you may not.
'This is the book I wish I'd had when I started skiing' - reviewer on Amazon.
How to buy:
Skiing Made Easier is the follow-up to Skiing Made Easy, and picks up from where the first book left off.
The first chapter is Refining Your Parallel Turns.
The chapters on ski technique beyond basic parallel turns are Carving, Short Turns, Bumps and Off Piste.
There are then further chapters on Avalanche and Mountain Safety, Ski Psychology, Physical Preparation, Ski Servicing and Alpine Wildlife.
As in Skiing Made Easy, common faults are identified and exercises suggested to correct them and to develop your skills.
'By the way' passages contain bits of skiing knowhow that could otherwise take years to pick up.
How to buy:
The Amazon URLs are affiliate links.
From Vitré, Stage 8 goes south south east via Argentré-du-Plessis, Gennes-sur-Seiche, Cuillé, Gastines, Laubrières and Ballots to Craon, on the river Oudon.
Craon is a 'pretty flower town' with a ranking of
three flowers - which as you know is jolly good. It has extensive
public parks and gardens, and a hippodrome.
Next the race goes east to Laigné. From there, it's north to Marigné-Peuton, Peuton, Quelaines-Saint-Gault, and Nuillé-sur-Vicoin. This is where the only categorised climb of the stage is to be found.
The race goes through Nuillé-sur-Vicoin then crosses the river Vicoin. The Côte de Nuillé-sur-Vicoin climb comes here as the riders pedal away from the river.
It is 900m at 3.8%, to a height of 96m - so it shouldn't trouble any of the professionals in the peloton.
KOM competition: 1 point for 1st place.
There's a barely discernible descent to L'Huisserie. The riders are now close to Laval.
The race approaches Laval from the south and follows the river Mayenne past the Jardin de la Perrine, then further north through the town.
There's a right turn onto the D900 Rocade (Ring Road), then a 360 degree turn at the first roundabout.
Stage 8 then comes back along the Rocade, crossing the river and continuing on Boulevard Pierre Elain.
Stage 8 finishes on Boulevard Pierre Elain at Espace Mayenne, a performing arts theatre in Laval. That's where Tadej Pogacar won an individual time trial in 2021.
The final kilometre is something of an uphill drag.
Green jersey competition at the finish line: from 50 points for 1st place down to 2 points for 15th place.
Time bonuses on at the finish line:
The Stage 8 finish town is Laval. The town's name probably means 'the valley'.
It was part of the historic Province of Maine. It is now the capital of the Mayenne département.
The Counts of Laval (most of them called Guy) ruled here from the 1000s onwards. They developed a textile industry around 1300. Linen was made here until the 1900s.
Today, local industries include dairy production, car manufacturing, electronics, plastics-processing and chemicals.
Naive painter Henri Rousseau was born in Laval, and there's a museum dedicated to him.
Laval (or at least the Mayenne region) is also the birthplace of Jacky Durand. He raced in the 1990s, and was known for long-range solo attacks. He won three Tour de France stages.
Favourites for Stage 8 of the 2025 Tour de France include the best sprinters, perhaps skewed by the fact that the finish is slightly uphill.
Dylan Groenwegen, Jasper Philipsen and Biniam Girmay were all winners on the 2024 Tour. Wout van Aert should never be ruled out, and Jonathan Milan will want to do well on his first Tour.
Who do you think will win Stage 8 of the 2025 Tour de France?
Massage gun deep tissue, price £19.99 from Amazon at the time of writing (affiliate link).
As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.
Bike Rides in the Yorkshire Dales is available in colour paperback.
Find out more about Bike Rides in the Yorkshire Dales or buy a copy.
Bike Rides In and Around York features a historical city tour, plus family rides, road rides, and mountain bike rides.
Find out more about Bike Rides In and Around York or buy a copy.
Bike Rides in Harrogate and Nidderdale is a book of family, mountain and road bike rides.
Find out more about Bike Rides in Harrogate and Nidderdale or buy a copy.
Find out more about Mountain Bike Rides in the Yorkshire Dales.
Buy Mountain Bike Rides in the Yorkshire Dales at £8 + P&P.
Garmin Edge Explore, £197.99 at the time of writing.
Garmin Edge Explore on Amazon (affiliate link).
Faster by Michael Hutchinson on Amazon (affiliate link).
