Jonathan Milan claims victory in Stage 8 of the Tour de France

Italian rider Jonathan Milan timed his attack perfectly to win the eighth stage of the Tour de France in a sprint finish on Saturday.

Milan overtook Australian Kaden Groves on his left and held off Belgian rider Wout van Aert to beat him by about half a bike length.

Defending champion Tadej Pogačar kept the yellow jersey after finishing in the main pack.

After Friday's tough grind, the peloton set off at a slower pace on a sun-baked Stage 8, starting from the Brittany commune of Saint-Méen-le-Grand and taking riders 171 kilometers (106 miles) to Laval in western France.

The main teams had no will to set a high pace, so the peloton trundled along through country roads until two riders – French teammates Mathieu Burgaudeau and Matteo Vercher – broke away with about 80 kilometers left.

The peloton did not respond, continuing to roll at a lethargic pace for a long time with no team deciding to lead the chase. 

But sprinters realized they were in danger of missing out on a stage win, so the peloton's speed had to increase eventually, and the two riders were finally caught with nine kilometers left.

After a sinewy route near the finish, Stage 2 winner Mathieu van der Poel accelerated to put his Alpecin–Deceuninck teammate Groves into a good position, but they attacked a little too soon.

Milan anticipated this, made his own move and withstood Van Aert's late attack behind him. The trio clocked 3 hours, 50 minutes.

In the overall standings, double Olympic champion Remco Evenepoel remained 54 seconds behind Pogačar in second place. Frenchman Kévin Vauquelin was third at 1 minutes, 11 seconds, and two-time Tour champion Jonas Vingegaard sat 1:17 behind in fourth spot.

Stage 9 of the three-week race heads into central France on a 158-kilometer flat stage for sprinters finishing in Châteauroux.

(FRANCE 24 with AP)