Today’s post gives a quick stage 7-9 recap of the 2025 Tour de France and and I also made a classic French dish: galettes, the buckwheat version of crêpes!
Recaps
Stage 7: Mûr-de-Bretagne
Stage 7 was a hilly stage, 197 km long with 2257 m of climbing and three categorized climbs. But, the real highlight of the day was the final uphill finish at “Mûr-de-Bretagne,” which literally translates to “Wall of Brittany.” It was a 2km climb to the finish with an average grade nearing 7 percent. However, there are parts of the climb where the gradient tipped over into double-digits.
In the final 10km there was a bad crash. Jack Haig on Bahrain Victorious immediately abandoned due to the crash, and a few others made it to the finish line sustaining injuries. Most notably, Joao Almeida, super-domestique for Pogačar, crashed and sustained a broken rib. For the time being he plans to continue to race.
In the end, the GC group sprints against each other in the final 400 meters and Pogačar gets his second stage win of this year’s Tour.
Stage 8: Final Flat Stage in Bretagne
Stage 8 was a flat stage for the sprinters, 171 km long with one small categorized climb but too far from the finish line to really create an opportunity for the puncheurs.
Eddie Dunbar from the Australian team Jayco Alula did not start stage 8. He was also involved in the crash towards the end of stage 7. So far, all the other riders involved in that crash have continued in the Tour. A breakaway from the French team Total Energies was never given a chance. At most they got about a minute lead before being absorbed back into the peloton.
At the end this was a pretty straightforward sprint-finish and Jonathan Milan wins the stage for Lidl-Trek.
Stage 9: Finish in Cavendish Town
Stage 9 was another flat stage. With no categorized climbs, this 174 km flat stage started in Chinon and ended in Châteauroux. Châteauroux is also known as “Cavendish Town” because Mark Cavendish — a retired sprinter with the world record for most Tour de France stage wins — won 3 stages in Châteauroux.
Alpecin Deceuninck surprised the peloton with a breakaway effort by Matthieu Van Der Poel, aided by his teammate Jonas Rickaert. Due to the crosswinds and some mistakes by the pelton the breakaway managed to get up to 5 minutes advantage.
Joao Almeida on UAE Emirates also abandoned the Tour during stage 9, the broken rib proving to be too serious an injury to continue racing through. This will be a loss for Pogačar in the mountain stages to come.
MVDP gets caught in the final kilometer. Although it was disappointing for MVDP, Alpecin did a good job of showing that a strong breakaway can have a chance, even on one of the flattest stages of this year’s Tour.
Tim Merlier of Soudal Quick-Step wins the sprint finish against Jonathan Milan. That is the second win for Merlier and third for Quick-Step in this Tour de France.
The Dish
Crêpes, one of the most well known French dishes, come from Bretagne where the peloton spent stages 7 and 8. Galettes are the version made with buckwheat flour and are often savory.
Buckwheat is extremely heat resistant as a crop. It also does well in nutrient poor soil and leaves the soil better off for the next crop to be planted. TLDR: buckwheat is a crop for the future in our warming planet. So this is a good time for all of us to find some good buckwheat recipes, and fortunately galettes are one of these! (Also, if you missed my Buckwheat Pasta from the Bormio stage during the Giro, check it out!)
My first couple of galettes fell apart, but by the third round I figured out
The batter for these were super easy to make. I added the ingredients to a blender, blended it up in 20 seconds, and left it in the fridge overnight. I prefer a sweeter filling so I went with a classic of sugar and lemon juice, but honestly you could fill these with almost anything and it would be good.
The buckwheat has a big effect on the color which comes out dark since the flour is black, and adds a little bit of a sweetness too. I would definitely make these again!
Reflections
The first week of the Tour has been pretty exciting despite the flat terrain. But that finally ends tomorrow, as the Tour arrives at the Massif Central on Monday for Bastille Day. Stage 10 has EIGHT climbs, most of them classified as category 2. It should be a really fun watch so definitely try to catch the stage!
A bientôt!