Thanks to an outstanding performance on the final climb, Primoz Roglic snatched the stage win on stage 8 of the Vuelta a Espana 2024. Four kilometres from the finish, his Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe team increased the pace to initiate an attack by Roglic. Although his rivals around Ben O'Connor (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale) were still able to follow the Slovenian's first two accelerations, the third attack then ensured a preliminary decision for the stage win. Only Enric Mas was able to stay on the Slovenian's wheel two kilometres before the finish. The two riders clearly pulled away from the rest of the field. In the final metres of the race, Roglic showed his sprightliness and relegated Enric Mas (Movistar) to second place. Mikel Landa (Soudal - Quick Step) finished third, while the best German was Florian Lipowitz (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) in 13th place.
Roglic makes up time in the overall classification
The overall leader Ben O'Connor had problems keeping up with the pace of the fastest riders of the day, especially in the last two kilometres, and only finished 17th. Not only did he lose time to Roglic, but other riders also made up a few seconds on the Australian in the overall classification. O'Connor still has a lead of 3:49 minutes over second-placed Primoz Roglic. Third overall Joao Almeida (UAE Team Emirates) had to battle with symptoms of illness throughout the day and fell far behind in the classification. Enric Mas is the new third overall.
Vuelta a Espana 2024 - Results: the top 10 of stage 8
- Primoz Roglic (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) 3:38:34
- Enric Mas (Movistar)+0:00
- Mikel Landa (Soudal - Quick Step)+0:14
- Antonio Tiberi (Bahrain-Victorious)+0:17
- Mattias Skjelmose (Lidl-Trek) +0:21
- Carlos Rodriguez (Ineos Grenadiers)+0:21
- Harold Tejada (Astana Qazaqstan Team)+0:24
- Eddie Dunbar (Team Jayco-AlUla)+0:26
- Lennert van Eetvelt (Lotto-Dstny) +0:29
- Jack Haig (Bahrain-Victorious) +0:29
The current standings in the overall standings of the Tour of Spain 2024
- Ben O'Connor (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale) 31:23:27
- Primoz Roglic (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) +3:49
- Enric Mas (Movistar) +4:31
- Antonio Tiberi (Bahrain-Victorious) +5:00
- Mikel Landa (Soudal - Quick Step) +5:13
- Lennert van Eetvelt (Lotto-Dstny) +5:15
- Cristian Rodriguez (Arkea-B&B Hotels) +5:19
- Mattias Skjelmose (Lidl-Trek) +5:24
- Florian Lipowitz (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) +5:25
- Felix Gall (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale) +5:26
How the 8th stage of the Vuelta a Espana 2024 went
The first section of the 159-kilometre stage 8 between Ubeda and Cazorla was extremely hectic. There were numerous attacks, including from Marc Soler (UAE Team Emirates) and Mauro Schmid (Team Jayco-AlUla), who tried to get away. Again and again, the attacks were parried by the peloton. It took around 50 kilometres and an hour of racing before a breakaway group was let go.
Breakaway group forms
First Mauro Schmid, Gijs Leemreize (Team dsm-firmenich PostNL), Harold Tejada (Astana Qazaqstan Team) rode ahead in threes, then Ion Izagirre (Cofidis), Oier Lazkano (Movistar), Luca Vergallito (Alpecin-Deceuninck), Sam Oomen (Lidl-Trek) and Mathis Le Berre (Arkea-B&B Hotels) took up the chase to the front and closed the gap with 93 kilometres to go. Eight riders were at the front of the peloton at this point.
Team Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale in particular was responsible for the chase in the peloton. They didn't let the breakaway go too far - the lead was never more than five minutes at any time.
Israel-Premier Tech sets the pace in the peloton
On the climb to the Puerto Mirador de las Palomas, Leemreize dropped back into the peloton as the breakaway's chances of success on stage 8 were too slim. This was also due to Israel-Premier Tech taking command on this climb, setting the pace and putting pressure on the escapees early on. Meanwhile, the Swiss rider Mauro Schmid snatched the mountain points there.
Tejada's attempt as a soloist fails
As a result, the breakaway's lead slowly shrank as they fought more and more for survival. Ten kilometres before the finish, only Vergallito, Lazkano and Tejada remained at the front of the once eight-man group. The latter in particular seemed to have set his sights on the day and tried to solo at the foot of the final climb with 4.5 kilometres to go, while the peloton was a minute behind the Colombian.
Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe then took over in the peloton, allowing Primoz Roglic to launch his attacks. Together with Enric Mas, he caught Tejada one kilometre before the finish and went on to win the stage.
