Tour de France: Jonathan Milan wins Stage 8 in a sprint finish

LAVAL, France (AP) — Italian rider Jonathan Milan timed his attack perfectly to win the eighth stage of the Tour de France in a sprint finish on Saturday.

Milan overtook Australian Kaden Groves on his left and held off Belgian rider Wout van Aert to beat him by about half a bike length. Milan won Olympic gold with Italy in team pursuit at the 2021 Tokyo Games and this was his first Tour stage win to go with four on the Giro d'Italia.

Defending champion Tadej Pogačar kept the yellow jersey after finishing in the main pack.

After Friday's tough grind, the peloton set off at a slower pace on a sun-baked Stage 8, starting from the Brittany commune of Saint-Méen-le-Grand and taking riders 171 kilometers (106 miles) to Laval in western France.

The main teams had no will to set a high pace, so the peloton trundled along through country roads until two riders —- French teammates Mathieu Burgaudeau and Matteo Vercher — broke away with about 80 kilometers left.

The peloton did not respond, continuing to roll at a lethargic pace for a long time with no team deciding to lead the chase.

“It was a much more relaxing stage than the previous ones," Pogačar said. “It has been a good day out in order to recover from the many efforts we have already done.”

Pogačar even had time to check how his girlfriend Urška Žigart was doing on the women's Giro. She finished seventh on Stage 7.

“I'm always nervous on the bike when she is racing, and it's great to hear about her,” he said. "When she does well, I feel super happy.”

The pack was taking it a bit too easy in his race, though.

When sprinters realized they were in danger of missing out on a stage win, the peloton's speed had to increase eventually, and the two riders were finally caught with nine kilometers left.

After a sinewy route near the finish, Stage 2 winner Mathieu van der Poel accelerated to put his Alpecin–Deceuninck teammate Groves into a good position, but they attacked a little too soon.

Milan anticipated this, made his own move and withstood Van Aert's late attack behind him. The trio clocked 3 hours, 50 minutes.

“It was a tough finale. I was in the front positions and I waited for the right moment to launch my sprint,” Milan said. “I gave it all and it worked out.”

In the overall standings, double Olympic champion Remco Evenepoel remained 54 seconds behind Pogačar in second place. Frenchman Kévin Vauquelin was third at 1 minutes, 11 seconds, and two-time Tour champion Jonas Vingegaard sat 1:17 behind in fourth spot.

Stage 9 of the three-week race heads into central France on a 158-kilometer flat stage for sprinters finishing in Châteauroux.

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France's Matteo Vercher, left, and France's Mathieu Burgaudeau, right, ride breakaway during the eighth stage of the Tour de France cycling race over 171.4 kilometers (106.5 miles) with start in Saint-Meen-le-Grand and finish in Laval Espace Mayenne, France, Saturday, July 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

Ireland's Ben Healy, right in pink jersey, follows Slovenia's Tadej Pogacar, wearing the overall leader's yellow jersey, and Germany's Nils Politt, left, during the eighth stage of the Tour de France cycling race over 171.4 kilometers (106.5 miles) with start in Saint-Meen-le-Grand and finish in Laval Espace Mayenne, France, Saturday, July 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

Italy's Jonathan Milan, wearing the best sprinter's green jersey, crosses the finish line to win the eighth stage of the Tour de France cycling race over 171.4 kilometers (106.5 miles) with start in Saint-Meen-le-Grand and finish in Laval Espace Mayenne, France, Saturday, July 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Mosa'ab Elshamy)

Slovenia's Tadej Pogacar, wearing the overall leader's yellow jersey, greets spectators prior to the start of the eighth stage of the Tour de France cycling race over 171.4 kilometers (106.5 miles) with start in Saint-Meen-le-Grand and finish in Laval Espace Mayenne, France, Saturday, July 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

Italy's Jonathan Milan, wearing the best sprinter's green jersey, celebrates as he crosses the finish line to win the eighth stage of the Tour de France cycling race over 171.4 kilometers (106.5 miles) with start in Saint-Meen-le-Grand and finish in Laval Espace Mayenne, France, Saturday, July 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Mosa'ab Elshamy)

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — U.S. President Donald Trump said Iran wants to negotiate with Washington after his threat to strike the Islamic Republic over its bloody crackdown on protesters, a move coming as activists said Monday the death toll in the nationwide demonstrations rose to at least 544.

Iran had no immediate reaction to the news, which came after the foreign minister of Oman — long an interlocutor between Washington and Tehran — traveled to Iran this weekend. It also remains unclear just what Iran could promise, particularly as Trump has set strict demands over its nuclear program and its ballistic missile arsenal, which Tehran insists is crucial for its national defense.

Meanwhile Monday, Iran called for pro-government demonstrators to head to the streets in support of the theocracy, a show of force after days of protests directly challenging the rule of 86-year-old Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Iranian state television aired chants from the crowd, who shouted “Death to America!” and “Death to Israel!”

Trump and his national security team have been weighing a range of potential responses against Iran including cyberattacks and direct strikes by the U.S. or Israel, according to two people familiar with internal White House discussions who were not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.

“The military is looking at it, and we’re looking at some very strong options,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One on Sunday night. Asked about Iran’s threats of retaliation, he said: “If they do that, we will hit them at levels that they’ve never been hit before.”

Trump said that his administration was in talks to set up a meeting with Tehran, but cautioned that he may have to act first as reports of the death toll in Iran mount and the government continues to arrest protesters.

“I think they’re tired of being beat up by the United States,” Trump said. “Iran wants to negotiate.”

He added: “The meeting is being set up, but we may have to act because of what’s happening before the meeting. But a meeting is being set up. Iran called, they want to negotiate.”

Iran through country's parliamentary speaker warned Sunday that the U.S. military and Israel would be “legitimate targets” if America uses force to protect demonstrators.

More than 10,600 people also have been detained over the two weeks of protests, said the U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency, which has been accurate in previous unrest in recent years and gave the death toll. It relies on supporters in Iran crosschecking information. It said 496 of the dead were protesters and 48 were with security forces.

With the internet down in Iran and phone lines cut off, gauging the demonstrations from abroad has grown more difficult. The Associated Press has been unable to independently assess the toll. Iran’s government has not offered overall casualty figures.

Those abroad fear the information blackout is emboldening hard-liners within Iran’s security services to launch a bloody crackdown. Protesters flooded the streets in the country’s capital and its second-largest city on Saturday night into Sunday morning. Online videos purported to show more demonstrations Sunday night into Monday, with a Tehran official acknowledging them in state media.

In Tehran, a witness told the AP that the streets of the capital empty at the sunset call to prayers each night. By the Isha, or nighttime prayer, the streets are deserted.

Part of that stems from the fear of getting caught in the crackdown. Police sent the public a text message that warned: “Given the presence of terrorist groups and armed individuals in some gatherings last night and their plans to cause death, and the firm decision to not tolerate any appeasement and to deal decisively with the rioters, families are strongly advised to take care of their youth and teenagers.”

Another text, which claimed to come from the intelligence arm of the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, also directly warned people not to take part in demonstrations.

“Dear parents, in view of the enemy’s plan to increase the level of naked violence and the decision to kill people, ... refrain from being on the streets and gathering in places involved in violence, and inform your children about the consequences of cooperating with terrorist mercenaries, which is an example of treason against the country,” the text warned.

The witness spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity due to the ongoing crackdown.

The demonstrations began Dec. 28 over the collapse of the Iranian rial currency, which trades at over 1.4 million to $1, as the country’s economy is squeezed by international sanctions in part levied over its nuclear program. The protests intensified and grew into calls directly challenging Iran’s theocracy.

Nikhinson reported from aboard Air Force One.

In this frame grab from video obtained by the AP outside Iran, a masked demonstrator holds a picture of Iran's Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi during a protest in Tehran, Iran, Friday, January. 9, 2026. (UGC via AP)

In this frame grab from footage circulating on social media from Iran shows protesters taking to the streets despite an intensifying crackdown as the Islamic Republic remains cut off from the rest of the world in Tehran, Iran, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026.(UGC via AP)

In this frame grab from footage circulating on social media from Iran showed protesters once again taking to the streets of Tehran despite an intensifying crackdown as the Islamic Republic remains cut off from the rest of the world in Tehran, Iran, Saturday Jan. 10, 2026. (UGC via AP)