Tour de France 2018 Stage 8 live stream: Watch online

Bastille Day at the Tour de France offers a chance for a sprinter could win in Amiens, if they can prevent a breakaway. Here’s how to watch Stage 8 online.

July 14 is always a momentous day at the Tour de France, no matter where the stage takes place in a given year. Bastille Day celebrations send French riders scrambling to embark on a day of glory. But it has been a rough run lately for French cyclists trying to win on their nation’s independence day.

Last year Warren Barguil won on July 14, claiming victory in the mountain stage into Foix. In the process Barguil became the first Frenchman to win on Bastille Day since David Moncoutié won the stage into Digne-les-Bains in 2005.

Thanks to the later start this year, this year’s Bastille Day course at the Tour de France is far less mountainous than recent editions. A pair of fourth-category climbs dot the course in the first half of the stage. The last 65 miles of racing after the intermediate sprint take the peloton over rolling roads before a relatively flat finish in Amiens.

It is the type of stage that, climate notwithstanding, would make most sprinters salivate. There is plenty of time to reintegrate with the field if sprinters somehow crack on the short climbs. It is the type of stage that will have riders like Arnaud Démare salivating about the chance to win on the national holiday.

How to watch the stage

Here is how to catch Stage 8 at the Tour de France live on July 14. The action from Dreux to Amiens is the only stage this year that will be broadcast live on NBC. Live streaming of the action is available on NBC Sports Gold or FuboTV.

• Date: Saturday, July 14, 2018
• Start time: 5:20 a.m. ET
• Start: Dreux, France
• Finish: Amiens, France
• TV Info: NBC
• Live Stream: NBC Sports Gold, Fubo.TV

A mostly sunny day will greet the peloton as the second week of racing commences. Temperatures should hover around the low 80s for the course of the stage. After several days spent wondering if rain will fall, it will be a welcome bout of nice weather.

Next: Tour de France 2018 route breakdown and highlights

If the race comes down to a sprint, watch out for Démare to put pressure on the rest of the sprinters in the field. On the other hand, a Frenchman like Yoann Offredo could potentially come up big if a breakaway forms on the windswept roads of northern France.