British Rider Grabs Lead In Mountain Stage

As expected, the mountainous stage 8 of the 100th Tour de France showed us who the real contenders are in this year's race for the Yellow Jersey. And it looks like the prohibitive favorite has turned out to be British rider Christopher Froome. He finished far ahead of his competition, with his teammate from Australia finishing nearly a minute behind him. Third place was taken by a Spanish rider. Tomorrow should be just as difficult, with the stage having four category 1 climbs. It will be interesting to see if Froome has the energy left to keep the Yellow Jersey in this stage, or if someone can can it from him. Here are the top stage 8 finishers and the current standings:

STAGE 8 TOP FINISHERS
1. Christopher Froome (Great Britain) Sky Procycling
2. Richie Porte (Australia) Sky Procycling
3. Alejandro Valverde (Spain) Movistar

YELLOW JERSEY (Best Overall Time)
1. Christopher Froome (Great Britain) Sky Procycling
2. Richie Porte (Australia) Sky Procycling..........0' 51"
3. Alejandro Valverde (Spain) Movistar..........1' 25"
4. Bauke Mollema (Netherlands) Belkin Pro Cycling..........1' 44"
5. Laurens Ten Dam (Netherlands) Belkin Pro Cycling..........1' 50"
6. Roman Kreuziger (Czech Republic) Saxo-Tinkoff..........1' 51"
7. Alberto Contador (Spain) Saxo-Tinkoff..........1' 51"
8. Nairo Alexander Quintana Rojas (Columbia) Movistar..........2' 02"
9. Joaquin Rodriguez Oliver (Spain) Katusha..........2' 31"
10. Michael Rogers (Australia) Saxo-Tinkoff..........2' 40"
11. Rui Alberto Costa (Portugal) Movistar..........2' 45"
12. Andrew Talansky (United States) Garmin-Sharp..........2' 48"
13. Daniel Martin (Ireland) Garmin-Sharp..........2' 48"

GREEN JERSEY (Best Sprinter)
1. Peter Sagan (Slovakia) Cannondale..........234 pts
2. Andre Greipel (Germany) Lotto-Belisol..........141 pts
3. Mark Cavendish (Great Britain) Omega Pharma-Quick Step..........128 pts
4. Alexander Kristoff (Norway) Katusha..........111 pts
5. Edvald Boasson Hagen (Norway) Sky Procycling..........88 pts
6. Marcel Kittel (Germany) Argos-Shimano..........87 pts

POLKA DOT JERSEY (Best Climber)
1. Christopher Froome (Great Britain) Sky Procycling..........31 pts
2. Pierre Rolland (France) Europcar..........31 pts
3. Richie Porte (Australia) Sky Procycling..........28 pts
4. Nairo Alexander Quintana Rojas (Columbia) Movistar..........25 pts
5. Mikel Nieve Iturralde (Spain) Euskaltel-Euskadi..........21 pts
6. Alejandro Valverde (Spain) Movistar..........20 pts

WHITE JERSEY (Best Young Rider)
1. Nairo Alexander Quintana Rojas (Columbia) Movistar
2. Andrew Talansky (United States) Garmin-Sharp..........0' 46"
3. Michal Kwiatkowski (Poland) Omega Pharma-Quick Step..........1' 23"
4. Romain Bardet (France) AG2R La Mondiale..........1' 33"
5. Thibaut Pinot (France) FDJ.FR..........4' 37"
6. Tejay Van Garderen (United States) BMC Racing..........10' 36"

TEAM STANDINGS
1. Movistar (Spain)
2. Saxo-Tinkoff (Denmark)..........0' 37"
3. AG2R La Mondiale (France)..........4' 33"
4. Belkin Pro Cycilng (Netherlands)..........5' 17"
5. Sky Procycling (Great Britain)..........6' 22"
6. Radioshack Leopard (Luxembourg)..........6' 30"
7. Euskaltel-Euskadi (Spain)..........7' 34"
8. Garmin-Sharp (United States)..........8' 04"
9. Katusha (Russia)..........9' 19"
10. FDJ.FR (France)..........19' 09"