Rudy Molard of Cofidis and Florian Guillou of Bretagne-Seche Environnement finished on the cusps of the Point d’Appui in 92nd and 93rd positions, respectively, at the end of Stage 8 of the 2014 Tour de France.

The climbs at the end of the day stiffened up the general classification standings of the leaders, with pretenders to the yellow jersey falling back when the Tinkoff-Saxo team jammed to the fore on the mountain climbs, leading Alberto Contador as far as they could before leaving him to his own devices. Vincenzo Nibali, however, kept calm and carried on, marking Contador pedal stroke for stroke and allowing Contador a couple of seconds at the very top of the climb. Richie Porte of Team Sky stayed right behind Nibali.

As for the stage win, none of the leaders could catch Blel Kadri of Ag2r-La Mondiale, who got into the five-man break about 35 kilometers into the race and proved to be the only survivor. The radiance of Kadri’s smile and the day-glo color of Contador’s jersey were the only bright spots in the gray fog of the finish atop la Mauselaine.

Edward “Ted” King of Cannondale remained the Lanterne Rouge, 1 hour, 34 minutes and 47 seconds adrift of Nibali.

Two more riders dropped before the end of Stage 8, leaving the race with an even number of finishers and without a fulcrum.

Mathias Frank of IAM Cycling broke his femur on Stage 7 and was unable to start Stage 8. Bart De Clercq of Lotto-Belisol abandoned the race due to pain in his ankle, the result of a crash early in the tour.

Speaking of crashes, American Andrew Talansky took another fall, this time on the rain-slickened descent of the Col de Grosse Pierre. His loss of time very likely puts him out of contention for a podium spot in Paris, but crazier things have happened. He might get back on if he can stay in the saddle.