Tour de France Stage 8 as it happened - Van Aert soars to second win ahead of Matthews and Pogacar

"It was a long day and it got hotter and hotter and there were a lot of dangerous points. I liked the last climb but for the sprint I maybe hesitated a bit and Van Aert passed me with triple speed. For sure it’s a little bit disappointing but third place is still great. When it goes uphill for 5km at the end I can be there for the sprint – but I’m not as fast as Matthews of Van Aert. I was in the middle of the crash. I hit the ground but not so much – one of the softer crashes I have experienced. We came back and it was okay."

Here's the finish today with Van Aert having enough in the tank to come round Matthews and Pogacar once the road flattened out.

"Of course, I’m super happy. Today was a big chance to take a lot of green points on a few of my competitors so I’m really glad my team put a everything in it to chase down the breakaway – then I had to finish it off.

"It was a pretty tough climb. It said 4.5km and 4% but with the flat bit in the middle a lot of what went uphill was really steep. I had to fight to stay on the wheel of Pogacar and his teammates. I knew that if I stayed in the wheel then the sprint was a lot flatter and I had a good chance."

Two days after coming second in Longwy, Michael Matthews comes second in Lausanne. He's getting close, but not close enough.

"I was pinned. I knew last time – we had a sprint like this two days ago – I waited too long. This time I maybe went too early. But Wout was just amazing today. I did my best and the team rode a great race to deliver me where I needed to be. And, yeah, second again. Hopefully I’m knocking on the door of that win."

The Australian should take heart from the fact that Van Aert started this Tour with three consecutive second places...

By taking third place today, the Slovenian picked up another four bonus seconds so he extends his lead in the general classification. The new top five:

1. Tadej Pogacar
2. Jonas Vingegaard +39
3. Geraint Thomas +1:14
4. Tom Pidcock +1:22
5. David Gaudu +1:35

The Belgian superstar in green just had too much as he powered to his second stage win of the race, while Matthews settled for his second second place of the Tour.

1. Wout van Aert
2. Michael Matthews
3. Tadej Pogacar
4. Andreas Kron
5. Alberto Bettiol
6. Aleksandr Vlasov
7. Benjamin Thomas
8. Jonas Vingegaard
9. Bob Jungels
10. Thomas Pidcock

After Majka pulled off it was Bob Jungels of Ag2R-Citroen who led deep into the final kilometre before Matthews darted from his wheel with Pogacar right behind. But the green jersey of Wout van Aert put in a late acceleration to come round the yellow jersey and take the win ahead of the Australian, with Pog forced to accept third.

It's become a GC drag race here but there are still some fast men around - Michael Matthews is one of them. It's around 30 riders left here with Vingegaard right in the wheel of the yellow jersey and ahead of Matthews and Van Aert.

It's 4.9km at 4.5% but a steep 12% ramp halfway up after a short downhill segment. And Wright only has 15 seconds now - and it's that man Pogacar who's leading the chase behind!

The Londoner is the only man on the front now after Cattaneo suddenly hit the wall. Wright has 35 seconds but the final climb is coming right up - and Bora-Hansgrohe have joined Alpecin-Deceuninck on the nose of the pack.

The GC teams have flocked to the front and it's getting really nervous. It's worth remembering that there's no 3km rule today and so that will be playing in the minds of all the yellow jersey contenders. Splits could easily appear on the climb and if you're caught out then you can lose a lot of time. So hard to predict the finish - it could be GC riders or one of the puncheurs. Wout van Aert is the safe bet, Michael Matthews would be a nice story - five years after his last Tour stage win - while it could even be someone like Pogacar, just to underline his total domination. Outsiders include Alberto Bettiol, Tom Pidcock and Jasper Philipsen.

Many riders have been tailed off with this huge surge of pace on the front - and it's Ineos Grenadiers who have joined the fight alongside Jumbo-Visma and Deceunick-Alpecin. One rider who won't contest the finale is Pierre Latour of TotalEnergies - the Frenchman has just had a mechanical. Victor Lafey of Cofidis has been dropped as the riders approach the glistening waters of Lac Leman.

Of course, we can't rule out Tom Pidcock of Ineos Grenadiers or even the yellow jersey - for what would be his third win on the bounce. The gap is down to 1'05" as Wright leads Cattaneo under the 20km-to-go banner.

Just 1'15" now for the two leaders; it's a matter of time. The final climb is an intriguing one: 4.9km at 4.5% but that average is skewered because there's a small downhill section halfway up that precedes a ramp where the gradient rises to 12% before it flattens out towards the finish. If riders like Van Aert, Ewan, Philipsen, Sagan and Matthews can get over the steep bit, then they should be in the mix to sprint for the win.

The Frenchman has managed to rejoin the main field just ahead of a little uphill rise which punctuates this long descent. The advantage of the two leaders is down to 1'40" with Luke Durbridge of BikeExchange back on the front now working for Michael Matthews.

The two leaders have 1'45" over the main pack and 2'18" over Thibaut Pinot, who found himself inadvertently knocked in the face by a Trek soigneur moments ago not long after he crashed in the back of the pack. Here's what happened to him a bit earlier...

UPDATE FROM ASTANA ON GIANNI MOSCON

It seems the Italian did not withdraw today because he was involved in that earlier crash but instead because he's still suffering from Long Covid. That's worrying to hear and we wish Gianni Moscon well.

Oh no! Terrible for the French climber. First he crashes in the peloton - perhaps after a touch of wheels - and then, when he's trying to ride back on, he's taken out by a Trek-Segafredo soigneur trying to hand a musette to one of the Trek riders. Pinot cops a load right in the face and he needs some treatment on the side of the road before he gets going. How much bad luck can one rider get?

Mattia Cattaneo leads Fred Wright over the top and takes the single point over the top - that puts him up to seventh place in the polka dot jersey standings on 3pts, all of which he has pocketed today. Behind, the pace is really sky-rocketing as Van Hooydonck continues ahead of the UAE train. No sign of BikeExchange for now - they have retreated a little.