The eighth stage of the 2014 Tour de France offered further healthy doses of excitement and intrigue.
Excitement could be found at the head of the race, when Blel Kadri (Ag2r-La Mondiale) rode away from Sylvain Chavanel (IAM Cycling) after both men had detonated a five-strong breakaway.
For intrigue, spectators had to look no further than a tense, one-on-one strategic battle between Alberto Contador (Tinkoff-Saxo) and the race leader, Astana’s Vincenzo Nibali.
Various sub-texts thickened the plot further. Tinkoff-Saxo did a more than passable impersonation of Team Sky’s pace-setting routine, and the British team’s new leader, Richie Porte, hovered on the shoulders of Contador and Nibali, threatening to crash the party of both men.
Official UCI WorldTour photographer, Stefano Sirotti, was on hand to capture all the action.
