Tour de France

Kadri delivers first French victory

ESPN staff

July 12, 2014

Blel Kadri crosses the finish line to win the eighth stage of the Tour de France © AP

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Blel Kadri took victory in stage eight of the Tour de France as the Ag2r-La Mondiale rider became the first Frenchman to triumph at this year's race.

As the Tour entered the Vosges mountains, Kadri rode clear of four other escapees in the last 25km to come home in 3h49'28 at the summit finish of the the 161-kilometre run from Tomblaine to Gérardmer La Mauselaine.

Alberto Contador (Tinkoff-Saxo) was next over the line, two minutes and 17 seconds back. The Spaniard finished ahead of Vincenzo Nibali but the Italian trailed him by just three seconds to remain safe in the race leader's yellow jersey.

Team Sky's Richie Porte was another four seconds back, keeping himself in the hunt for yellow as he moved third in the general classification standings, one minute and 58 seconds behind Astana rider Nibali's overall time.

Alejandro Valverde and Contador both move into the top six with two more mountain stages to come before Tuesday.

"It's an amazing feeling that I have right now," said Kadri. "I'm delighted for myself and for the team as well. The main aim for the team was to win a stage - we've done that now - and to get the [King of the Mountain] polka-dot jersey too, that's important as well."

Classement de l'étape / Stage classification #TDF pic.twitter.com/0OWtl8ykXr
— Le Tour de France (@letour) July 12, 2014

General classification:

1. Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Astana - 03h48'52
2. Jakob Fuglsang (Den) Astana - +1'44
3. Richie Porte (Aus) Sky - +1'58
4. Michal Kwiatkowski (Pol) Omega Pharma - +2'26
5. Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Movistar - +2'27
6. Alberto Contador (Spa) Tinkoff-Saxo - +2'34
7. Romain Bardet (Fra) Ag2r - +2'39
8. Rui Costa (Por) Lampre-Merida - +2'52
9. Bauke Mollema (Ned) Belkin - +3'02
10. Jurgen Van Den Broeck (Bel) Lotto-Belisol - +3'02

.@vincenzonibali toujours en jaune après 8 étapes / still in yellow after 8 stages. #TDF pic.twitter.com/E81oRmV6o9
— Le Tour de France (@letour) July 12, 2014