On the 186 km stage 8 of the 2015 Giro d’Italia it was Benat Intxausti who has managed to take out the win after sitting in the breakaway all day.
In a stage that had a bit of everything it started so frantically. After a 9 rider group featuring Tom Danielson (Cannondale Garmin), Gianfranco Zilioli (Androni), Branislau Samoilau (CCC), Roger Kluge (IAM), Louis Vervaeke (Lotto Soudal), Ruben Fernandez (Movistar), Eduard Grosu (Nippo Fantini), and Elia Favilli (SouthEast) went away it looked to be the day’s breakaway. However it wasn’t to be as the race splintered.
The whole stage was played out on hilly terrain and before the riders even reached the first of two categorised climbs, the pace was so high that at one stage there were only about 50 riders left in the front group. Alberto Contador was rumoured to have been distanced before live pictures began.
Contador then promptly finished second in the first intermediate sprint to add 2 seconds to his lead over Fabio Aru.
Following that the day’s breakaway was finally established with Przemyslaw Niemec (Lampre – Merida), Sebastien Reichenbach (IAM), Carlos Bentacur (Ag2r La Mondiale), Francesco Bongiorno (Bardiani), Benat Intxausti (Movistar), Franco Pellizotti (Androni), Ilnur Zakarin (Katusha), Muaro Finetto (Southeast), Branislav Samoilav (CCC Sprandi), Tom Danielson (Cannondale Garmin) and Kristof Vandewalle (Trek Factory) all making the cut.
However Steven Kruijswik (lotto – jumbo) was also up the road and ahead of that group. After taking maximum points over the first climb Pellizotti and Bentacur attacked and joined him before Vandewalle did the same. The 4 riders enjoyed a fairly large lead of about 9 minutes for most of the stage with their lead to the chase group behind fluctuating from between 10 seconds to a minute.
As the riders approached the final climb it was Astana who hit the front of the bunch. With the rain and the majority of the stage behind them, having 9 riders in the front group was a minor miracle. Astana really turned the screws coming up to the base of the final climb and cut the gap to about 6 minutes.
Reichenbach and Intxausti attacked out of the second group to form their own chase group before Steven Kruijswik proved to be the strongest out of the first group. Meanwhile in the peloton it was still all Team Astana.
After Astana had lead the whole way up and starved off an attack from Damiano Cunego, Aru was the man to attack however was chased brilliantly by Porte and Contador. Meanwhile up front it was Intxausti who looked to be suffering until he attacked Reichenbach and stomped off to win the stage.
Mikel Landa then attacked for Astana and forced Sky to do the work with 3 riders in the front group which they did fairly well.
With just over 1 km to go it was Aru to try again before Porte chased him down. Instead of stoping Porte himself went of the attack and tries to ride away. This thinned out the group substantially as only Aru, Contador and Uran along with Cataldo could go with him.
In the end it was Intxausti winning from Landa and Reichenbach meaning there were no bonus seconds available for the General Classification riders as Aru lead them over.
A super stage but no changes to the General Classification. Rigoberto Uran looks to be riding himself into form whilst Porte seems to be the most comfortable of the General Classification riders.
The general classification battle of the 2015 Giro d’Italia heats up as the peloton take on Stage 8 which is 186 km from Fiuggi to a summit finish at Campitello Matese. Join The Roar from 9:30pm (AEST) for live coverage of the race.
Most of the riders will be glad they don’t need to spend more than seven hours in the saddle as we move onto Stage 8, however we have our second summit finish on the category one Campitello Matese.
Yesterday after seven hours in the saddle, in a much reduced bunch sprint it was Diego Ulissi (Lampre) who emerged victorious ahead of Juan Jose Lobato (Movistar) and Simon Gerrans (Orica).
Alberto Contador with his shoulder injury looked to be riding well and in fact got better as the stage went on. However when he got to the podium presentation it took an extended period of time to get his pink jersey on and he couldn’t lift his left arm.
Moving onto Stage 8 now, and it should bring about a shake-up in the general classification with a summit finish. Looking at the profile for the stage, it never really flattens out always going either up or down, however there are only two categorised climbs on course.
The first of these categorised climbs comes after 80.7km however the riders will start the climb after just over 50km, making this a 29km climb at steady gradients most of the way, including a downhill section about two thirds of the way up. The average gradient of the climb is only about five per cent and it never ramps up beyond nine per cent.
Following reaching the summit of the first climb for the day the riders will face about a 25km descent that is fast but not technical. Then the riders will continue downhill interspersed with a lot of little climbs that have not reached categorisation before aiming up for the final climb of the day.
The final climb of the day is category one and 13km long. With the length combined with an average gradient of close to seven per cent it will certainly separate the peloton enough to cause a shake-up in the GC. The maximum gradient of the climb never really goes beyond nine per cent.
Interestingly as the riders come into the final kilometre the gradient will drop off towards three per cent, before the last 250 meters following a left hand turn are virtually flat. Still with bonus seconds to be won this will be fought tooth and nail.
With rain expected on the stage this will only make life harder for the riders.
Elia Viviani moved into the sprinters jersey and will be aiming to keep that with two intermediate sprints on course coming after 50 and 148 km respectively.
Coming into a stage like this if you were asked to pick one favourite it would be Alberto Contador (Saxo), however with his shoulder it is going to be really interesting to see how he rides.
Richie Porte (Sky) has been in fantastic form coming into the Giro, whilst Fabio Aru (Astana) could be looking to move into pink however at this early stage of the race they could well all just mark each other, which opens up the road for Rigoberto Uran (Etixx Qucikstep). For mine he will be the most aggressive on this stage as he needs to start winning back time over the others, who can match him in an individual time trial.
A breakaway could also succeed on Stage 8 if it has the right composition, however they will need at least five minutes with 20km to go.
Prediction: I can’t go past Rigoberto Uran to lead home Richie Porte with the stronger breakaway riders dotted in the top 10.
Join us on The Roar from 9:30pm (AEST) for our live coverage of Stage 8 of the 2015 Giro d’Italia in what should be a fantastic stage, and don’t forget to leave your comments if you are following along.
Scott Pryde
Expert
Thanks for joining me here this evening on the Roar for our live coverage of Stage 8 from the 2015 Giro d'Italia and I hope you enjoyed the coverage. Remember to keep checking back for all the best in sports. Tomorrow it should be Sam Brown to bring you stage 9. I'll be back for Stage 13 next Friday evening. Goodnight!
Scott Pryde
Expert
STAGE RESULTS On the 186 km stage 8 of the 2015 Giro d'Italia it was Benat Intxausti who has managed to take out the win after sitting in the breakaway all day. In a stage that had a bit of everything it started so frantically. After a 9 rider group featuring Tom Danielson (Cannondale Garmin), Gianfranco Zilioli (Androni), Branislau Samoilau (CCC), Roger Kluge (IAM), Louis Vervaeke (Lotto Soudal), Ruben Fernandez (Movistar), Eduard Grosu (Nippo Fantini), and Elia Favilli (SouthEast) went away it looked to be the day's breakaway. However it wasn't to be as the race splintered. The whole stage was played out on hilly terrain and before the riders even reached the first of two categorised climbs, the pace was so high that at one stage there were only about 50 riders left in the front group. Alberto Contador was rumoured to have been distanced before live pictures began. Contador then promptly finished second in the first intermediate sprint to add 2 seconds to his lead over Fabio Aru. Following that the day's breakaway was finally established with Przemyslaw Niemec (Lampre – Merida), Sebastien Reichenbach (IAM), Carlos Bentacur (Ag2r La Mondiale), Francesco Bongiorno (Bardiani), Benat Intxausti (Movistar), Franco Pellizotti (Androni), Ilnur Zakarin (Katusha), Muaro Finetto (Southeast), Branislav Samoilav (CCC Sprandi), Tom Danielson (Cannondale Garmin) and Kristof Vandewalle (Trek Factory) all making the cut. However Steven Kruijswik (lotto - jumbo) was also up the road and ahead of that group. After taking maximum points over the first climb Pellizotti and Bentacur attacked and joined him before Vandewalle did the same. The 4 riders enjoyed a fairly large lead of about 9 minutes for most of the stage with their lead to the chase group behind fluctuating from between 10 seconds to a minute. As the riders approached the final climb it was Astana who hit the front of the bunch. With the rain and the majority of the stage behind them, having 9 riders in the front group was a minor miracle. Astana really turned the screws coming up to the base of the final climb and cut the gap to about 6 minutes. Reichenbach and Intxausti attacked out of the second group to form their own chase group before Steven Kruijswik proved to be the strongest out of the first group. Meanwhile in the peloton it was still all Team Astana. After Astana had lead the whole way up and starved off an attack from Damiano Cunego, Aru was the man to attack however was chased brilliantly by Porte and Contador. Meanwhile up front it was Intxausti who looked to be suffering until he attacked Reichenbach and stomped off to win the stage. Mikel Landa then attacked for Astana and forced Sky to do the work with 3 riders in the front group which they did fairly well. With just over 1 km to go it was Aru to try again before Porte chased him down. Instead of stoping Porte himself went of the attack and tries to ride away. This thinned out the group substantially as only Aru, Contador and Uran along with Cataldo could go with him. In the end it was Intxausti winning from Landa and Reichenbach meaning there were no bonus seconds available for the General Classification riders as Aru lead them over. A super stage but no changes to the General Classification. Rigoberto Uran looks to be riding himself into form whilst Porte seems to be the most comfortable of the General Classification riders.
Scott Pryde
Expert
Full report to follow now. Trying to dissect this stage will be interesting! A lot to talk about.
Scott Pryde
Expert
At the podium now and Alberto Contador's arm looks like it doesn't want to move. However behind the scenes he was adjusting his hat with both arms. Contador is not injured badly. I'm telling you right now.
Scott Pryde
Expert
GENERAL CLASSIFICATION AFTER STAGE 8 1. Alberto Contador (Tinkoff Saxo) @ 32:40:07 2. Fabio Aru (Astana) + 4 3. Richie Porte (Sky) + 22 4. Dario Cataldo (Astana) + 30 5. Mikel Landa (Astana) + 42 6. Roman Kreuziger (Tinkoff Saxo) +1:00 7. Giovanni Visconti (Movistar) + 1:16 8. Rigoberto Uran (Etixx Quickstep) + 1:24 9. Damiano Caruso (BMC) + 1:34 10. Andrey Amador (Movistar) + 1:38
Scott Pryde
Expert
GIRO D'ITALIA 2015: STAGE 8 TOP 10 1. Benat Intxausti (Movistar) @ 4:51:34 2. Mikel Landa (Astana) + 20 3. Sebastien Reichenbach + 31 4. Fabio Aru (Astana) + 35 5. Alberto Contador (Saxo - Tinkoff) + 35 6. Richie Porte (Sky) + 35 7. Rigoberto Uran (Etixx Quickstep) + 35 8. Dario Cataldo (Astana) + 35 9. Damiano Cunego (Nipo Vini Fantini) + 45 10. Damiano Caruso (BMC) +45
Scott Pryde
Expert
Results and stage report to follow shortly.
Scott Pryde
Expert
Mikel Landa was not happy about losing this stage either. Aru lead the sprint home for 4th, Contador looked to be 5th and Porte 6th. Uran held on as well as Cataldo whilst the rest lost time. Cunego and Caruso were the first 2 not in that group.
Scott Pryde
Expert
The stage in the end was ridden very quickly, finishing about 3 minutes ahead of the fastest that the timetable had allowed for.
Scott Pryde
Expert
Porte riding hard here and trying to crack them but he cant get rid of Contador, Aru, Uran or Cataldo as they go with him. meanwhile Intxausti has won the stage on his own. The race for bonus seconds is on. Landa will grab 6 coming over about 20 seconds in arrears and Reichenbach has finished 3rd taking the last of the bonus seconds. Aru leads the main group over. BENAT INTXAUSTI WINS STAGE 8 OF THE 2015 GIRO D'ITALIA
Scott Pryde
Expert
Intxausti now inside of 1 km and Aru has attacked again. Porte responds beautifully and catch Cunego very quickly. Contador among others have chased down Porte here. Uran has followed and now Porte has attacked
Scott Pryde
Expert
Intxausti now has 1.3 km to go as Konig drags this group uphill. An attack. It's Damiano Cunego and he rides away with ease. Konig doesn't have the legs to push this group here.
Scott Pryde
Expert
Landa is now in the virtual pink jersey here apparently.
Scott Pryde
Expert
Damiano Cunego is still in the main group as well. Gap is 1:10 with 1.8 km to go now and Landa looks to be catching Intxausti at a rather quick rate.
Scott Pryde
Expert
Intxausti has 2 km to go now as Kruijswik and Vandewalle get picked up by the pink jersey group. Landa still sits in the middle and the gap is over a minute. Intxausti may well do this.
Scott Pryde
Expert
Van Den Broeck is also hanging onto the pink jersey group.
Scott Pryde
Expert
Nieve cracks so its Konig to now do the work for Porte. The gap has gone back out to 1 minute with 2.5 km to go.
Scott Pryde
Expert
Landa is now catching Vandewalle and Kruijswik. Intxausti is flying along.
Scott Pryde
Expert
Dario Cataldo is still there for Porte and Landa is still ahead of this group. Not sure by how much as Intxausti leads the race into the final 3 km. Gap is 51 seconds.
Scott Pryde
Expert
Caruso has come back to this front group and Team Sky with Nieve and Konig still on the front for Porte who sits 4th wheel. Sky with the upper hand now by the looks of it. 3.5 km to go and now Itxausti who hasn't taken a turn in 5 km goes for it.