Calmejane wins stage, Froome retains yellow jersey

Lilian Calmejane of France pulled away to win stage eight from Dole to Station des Rousses by 37 seconds in the 2017 Tour de France on Saturday.

Chris Froome of Great Britain retained possession of the yellow jersey, leading Team Sky teammate and fellow Brit Geraint Thomas by 12 seconds.

Direct Energie star Calmejane, competing in his first Tour de France, timed perfectly his drive up the stage’s final climb to win in 4 hours, 30 minutes and 29 seconds.

“It’s huge,” said Calmejane, who claimed the first stage victory of his career in the Tour de France and took the polka dot jersey as leader the King of the Mountains competition from Fabio Aru of Italy, despite cramping up with about a kilometer left.

“It was everything I was dreaming of,” added the 24-year-old Calmejane, who also won a stage in the 2016 Vuelta a Espana. “When I had cramp in the finale, I decided to drop a gear so I could pedal softer.”

Robert Gesink of the Netherlands finished second while Guillaume Martin of France was awarded third, leading led a group of riders who were credited with finishing 50 seconds back, including Nathan Brown of the United States in ninth place.

Froome and Thomas ran into trouble and veered off the course briefly during a slight descent, but regained their places in the peleton.

“That was a tough day, especially with Sunday’s decisive day to come,” said Froome, who has claimed the yellow jersey as winner of the Tour de France three of the last four years.

“It was tactically an interesting stage. A lot of guys in the break were a threat in the general classification, so we went with the plan of putting Sergio Henao, Christian Knees and Mikel Landa in the break, but even though we had guys in there we couldn’t give it any room.”

Stage nine, the last before the first rest day of the 21-stage race that ends in Paris, features seven categorized climbs, including three “hors categorie” — the hardest of all mountain ascents.

Arnaud Demare, the French national champion who claimed stage four and is second in the green points jersey classification, was in danger of missing the time cut after being dropped by the peleton early.

However, Demare finished 37 minutes, 33 seconds back, and will stay in the race.