Tour de France 2026: Preview of Stage 8: The search is on for Kittel’s successor

​Key information on Stage 8 of the 2026 Tour de France

• Saturday, 11 July: Périgueux – Bergerac
• 180.4 kilometres, 1,150 metres of elevation gain (flat)
• Mountain climbs: KM 102.6 (4th category), KM 140.4
• Intermediate sprint: KM 122.8
• Start: 1.15 pm, Finish: approx. 5.20 pm
• Live updates and results

The route of the 8th stage of the Tour de France

Stage 8 of the Tour de France is also flat and follows a similar route to the previous day. Both the start in Périgueux and the finish in Bergerac are part of the Tour for the fifth time. The stage thus links the two largest towns in the Dordogne, north-east of Bordeaux. What seems a little odd at first glance is the arrangement of the start and finish. This is because Périgueux is further away from the previous day’s finish but closer to the start of the following stage. The opposite is true for Bergerac.

However, logistical and financial – or political – challenges do not always necessarily coincide, which is why the tour convoy will have to cover a few unnecessary kilometres by car. The sporting challenge, on the other hand, is relatively modest. The 1,150 metres of elevation gain are spread fairly evenly over the 180 kilometres by bike. To extend the distance slightly – the start and finish are actually only a good 40 kilometres apart as the crow flies – the route takes a wide clockwise loop across the flat countryside. After just over 100 kilometres, the first Category 4 climb awaits, followed by the second 40 kilometres later. The gradient remains below six per cent.

Topographically speaking, nothing else happens until the finish line. Nevertheless, the final stretch is not entirely straightforward. Just before the ‘Teufelslappen’, there is a 90-degree bend, and 500 metres from the finish, another sharp right-hand bend.

A sporting analysis of Stage 8 of the 2026 Tour de France

There will also be a bunch sprint in Bergerac, but it won’t be an easy one. The two sharp bends in the final stretch call for well-timed sprints, which are best executed via long, well-coordinated lead-outs. That is why the pure sprinter teams – Soudal Quick-Step with Tim Merlier and Alpecin – Premier Tech with Jasper Philipsen – have the advantage here over Mads Pedersen (Lidl – Trek), Olav Kooij (Decathlon CMA CGM) and the German hopefuls Max Kanter (XDS Astana Team), Pascal Ackermann (Team Jayco AlUla) and Phil Bauhaus (Bahrain – Victorious), who have to share their support riders with the climbers in their teams. The most recent winner in Bergerac – which might offer some hope – was Marcel Kittel in 2017.

It seems unlikely that any breakaway riders could throw a spanner in the works for the sprinters. The sprinters’ stage to Pau on Stage 5, when Baptiste Veistroffer (Lotto Intermarché) was the only rider to spend the whole day ahead of the peloton, showed that there is little interest in potentially futile breakaway attempts.