Map
Stage 8 departs from Dreux and ends in Amiens.
Dreux is mostly known by the "chapelle royale de Dreux", where many nobles such as dukes, princes, princesses and pretenders are buried.
Some names, that caught my eyes were two Brazilian princes, Prince Antônio Gastão and Princes Luis, both of the House of Orléans-Braganza. After the highly regarded Emperor Pedro II of Brazil was deposed in a military coup, the Brazilian Royal family was exiled. Prince Antônio was at first a Hussar lieutenant in the Austro-Hungarian Army from 1908 until 1914, where he "switched sides" at the outbreak of the war, enlisting himself in the British Army as part of the Royal Flying Corps, where he was awarded the military cross, serving as a pilot.
Injuries after an air plane crash caused him to die shortly after the end of The Great War, which brought death and suffering the world had never seen at that point in time.
The other prince, Luis, became heir to the non-existing Brazilian throne, and was active in the restoration movement (to restore the monarchy in Brazil) and for the abolition of slavery in Brazil.
Sounds like a somewhat unsual prince of that era, right? The prince was active from 1907 through to his death in 1920, and argued in favor of federalism, obligatory military service to have an army containing all parts of society, and an improvement in the quality of life for laborers. That last proposal made his adversaries accuse him of being a socialist and a radical!
The finish is at the big town of Amiens, where the novelist Jules Verne lived. His house can be visited. If you find yourself in Amiens, why not enter the Musée de Picardie?
There you can find paintings and sculptures by Van Dyck, El Greco, Jacob Jordaens, Tiepolo, Chardin and Courbet, just to mention some.
Amiens is also home to the floating gardens of Amiens, called hortillonnages.
This photo of Les Hortillonnages d'Amiens is courtesy of TripAdvisor
These floating gardens are small islands in the marshland between the river Somme and the river Avre, and these small gardens are separated from each other by so-called rieux, man-made canals.
It isn't called Venice of the North for nothing
Last time the race visited Amiens Métropole was three years ago, where the Gorilla, André Greipel won in front of Peter Sagan, Mark Cavendish and Alexander Kristoff.
profile
Last 5 kilometers
General classification before tomorrow:
1. Greg Van AVERMAET (BMC)
2. Geraint THOMAS (SKY) + 5''
3. Tejay VAN GARDEREN (BMC) + 6''
4. Julian ALAPHILIPPE (Quickstep) + 9''
5. Philippe GILBERT (Quickstep) + 15''
6. Bob JUNGELS (Quickstep) + 21''
7. Rigoberto URAN (EF-ED) + 48''
8. Alejandro VALVERDE (Movistar) + 54''
9. Rafal MAJKA (Bora) + 55''
10. Jakob FUGLSANG (Astana) + 56''
Polka-dot jersey competition before tomorrow:
1. Toms SKUIJNS (Trek) 6
2. Sylvain CHAVANEL (Direct Energie) 4
3. Dion SMITH (Wanty) 4
Points jersey competition before tomorrow:
1. Peter SAGAN (Bora) 234
2. Fernando GAVIRIA (Quickstep) 203
3. Alexander KRISTOFF (UAE) 105
4. André GREIPEL (Lotto-Soudal) 85
5. Dylan GROENEWEGEN (NL-Jumbo) 82
Weather forecast provided by BBC Weather
Stage 8 departs from Dreux and ends in Amiens.
Dreux is mostly known by the "chapelle royale de Dreux", where many nobles such as dukes, princes, princesses and pretenders are buried.
Some names, that caught my eyes were two Brazilian princes, Prince Antônio Gastão and Princes Luis, both of the House of Orléans-Braganza. After the highly regarded Emperor Pedro II of Brazil was deposed in a military coup, the Brazilian Royal family was exiled. Prince Antônio was at first a Hussar lieutenant in the Austro-Hungarian Army from 1908 until 1914, where he "switched sides" at the outbreak of the war, enlisting himself in the British Army as part of the Royal Flying Corps, where he was awarded the military cross, serving as a pilot.
Injuries after an air plane crash caused him to die shortly after the end of The Great War, which brought death and suffering the world had never seen at that point in time.
The other prince, Luis, became heir to the non-existing Brazilian throne, and was active in the restoration movement (to restore the monarchy in Brazil) and for the abolition of slavery in Brazil.
Sounds like a somewhat unsual prince of that era, right? The prince was active from 1907 through to his death in 1920, and argued in favor of federalism, obligatory military service to have an army containing all parts of society, and an improvement in the quality of life for laborers. That last proposal made his adversaries accuse him of being a socialist and a radical!
The finish is at the big town of Amiens, where the novelist Jules Verne lived. His house can be visited. If you find yourself in Amiens, why not enter the Musée de Picardie?
There you can find paintings and sculptures by Van Dyck, El Greco, Jacob Jordaens, Tiepolo, Chardin and Courbet, just to mention some.
Amiens is also home to the floating gardens of Amiens, called hortillonnages.
This photo of Les Hortillonnages d'Amiens is courtesy of TripAdvisor
These floating gardens are small islands in the marshland between the river Somme and the river Avre, and these small gardens are separated from each other by so-called rieux, man-made canals.
It isn't called Venice of the North for nothing
Last time the race visited Amiens Métropole was three years ago, where the Gorilla, André Greipel won in front of Peter Sagan, Mark Cavendish and Alexander Kristoff.
profile
Last 5 kilometers
General classification before tomorrow:
1. Greg Van AVERMAET (BMC)
2. Geraint THOMAS (SKY) + 5''
3. Tejay VAN GARDEREN (BMC) + 6''
4. Julian ALAPHILIPPE (Quickstep) + 9''
5. Philippe GILBERT (Quickstep) + 15''
6. Bob JUNGELS (Quickstep) + 21''
7. Rigoberto URAN (EF-ED) + 48''
8. Alejandro VALVERDE (Movistar) + 54''
9. Rafal MAJKA (Bora) + 55''
10. Jakob FUGLSANG (Astana) + 56''
Polka-dot jersey competition before tomorrow:
1. Toms SKUIJNS (Trek) 6
2. Sylvain CHAVANEL (Direct Energie) 4
3. Dion SMITH (Wanty) 4
Points jersey competition before tomorrow:
1. Peter SAGAN (Bora) 234
2. Fernando GAVIRIA (Quickstep) 203
3. Alexander KRISTOFF (UAE) 105
4. André GREIPEL (Lotto-Soudal) 85
5. Dylan GROENEWEGEN (NL-Jumbo) 82
Weather forecast provided by BBC Weather
Facebook
Twitter
Instagram