Godon takes on sprint on sweltering Saturday

Dorian Godon sprinted to 14th place in Bergerac following another red-hot day of racing at the Tour de France.

As expected stage eight concluded in a bunch kick, but the sprint teams in the peloton faced a late scare as lone escapee Liam Slock (Lotto Intermarche) almost held on.

The Belgian was reeled in with 1.3 kilometres to go, and shortly after Michal Kwiatkowski arrived at the head of the race, helping drop Godon into the mix.

The Frenchman would lose ground heading into and through the final corner, with Tim Merlier (Soudal Quick-Step) coming from deep to win the sprint.

Attention now turns to Sunday's stage, and a chance for a breakaway with a day of climbing.