Giro d'Italia Stage 8 Live - A jagged profile to test Primož Roglič's grip on the maglia rosa

Luke Plapp of Jayco-AlUla wins stage eight of the Giro d'Italia 202 after an incredible solo effort from a massive breakaway. 

500 metres to go for Plapp. 

Flamme Rouge

Luke Plapp is riding to victory. Behind, Ulissi and Kelderman are riding very well but is it enough for Ulissi's pink dream He has about 2" in the virtual GC. 

Attack!

Tom Pidcock (Q36.5)
Juan Ayuso (UAE Team Emirates-XRG)
Egan Bernal (Ineos Grenadiers)
Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost)
Primož Roglič (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe)

That goes nowhere but McNulty is now leading the peloton. Ulissi only has 9" to play with in the virtual GC. 

5km to go

Plapp has 52" on Ulissi but the Italian is being closed in by the peloton and he may not get his pink dream. 

KoM (Gagliole)

1. Luke Plapp (AUS) Jayco-AlUla 3pts
2. Diego Ulissi (ITA) XDS-Astana 2pts
3. Wilco Kelderman (NED) Visma-Lease a Bike 1pt

Ulissi and Kelderman have managed to distance Arrieta for now but the Spaniard will not give up. 

Onto the final climb of the Gagliole. 800m long with an average gradient of 11.9% and a max kick of 14%. 

Plapp is very close to the final climb of the day, the 800 metre long Gagliole which has an average of 12%. 

10km to go

Plapp has just over a minute on the chasing trio of Ulissi, Kelderman and Arrieta. Then it is 2'33" back to the Fortunato group and 5'52" back to the peloton led by Red Bull-Bora-Hangrohe. 

As it stands, Diego Ulissi will be in pink as his home race goes into his home region of Tuscany. He has 22" on Fortunato but just 43" on Roglič. 

Ulissi and Kelderman are just 14" behind Arrieta who appears to be fading again. 

Arrieta had closed the gap to 53" but it has gone back out to over a minute again as Plapp isn't slowing down at all. 

Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe lead through the Red Bull KM as they aim to keep Primož Roglič well positioned. It does see the gap slip a bit, though. It is very close in the virtual GC. 

Back in the peloton, there are multiple teams on the front. Ineos Grenadiers, UAE Team Emirates-XRG, Bahrain Victorious and Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe all fighting for control of the bunch. 

Red Bull KM (Castel Santa Maria)

1. Luke Plapp (AUS) Jayco-AlUla 6"
2. Igor Arrieta (ESP) UAE Team Emirates-XRG 4"
3. Diego Ulissi (ITA) XDS-Astana 2"

Fortunato, Bardet, Prodhomme and Vendrame catch Steinhauser in the chase group that are over two minutes down. 

20km to go

Plapp has over a minute on the next group with Arrieta launching from that chase group meaning that Ulissi will not take those 4" bonuses. 

Just 2km to the Red Bull KM in Castel Santa Maria. 

The riders are heading to the Red Bull Kilometre which could be key in the virtual GC if Ulissi takes the 4" available in 2nd on the line as Plapp will take 6". 

Oddly, Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe have come back to the front of the peloton and are pushing hard. Not sure why they would do that with the virtual GC being so tight and they want to give the jersey away. 

Fortunato leads the virtual GC over Ulissi by 14" and 1'04" to Primož Roglič. 

30km to go

Plapp leads with 39" on Kelderman, Ulissi and Arrieta. Steinhauser is off the back of them with Fortunato, Bardet, Vendrame and Prodhomme a +1'32" with +5'34" back to the peloton. 

The times adjust and Fortunato is back in the virtual lead ahead of teammate Ulissi. But, UAE Team Emirates-XRG are working hard to try and make sure Primož Roglič keeps pink. This is very complicated to calculate. 

40km to go

Multiple teams on the front of the peloton now as the gap is at 5'38" up to Plapp. However, it is about five minutes to Ulissi. 

He is the virtual pink jersey with his teammate, Fortunato in a close 2nd but Ulissi started the day just over four minutes, so he only has a minute on the virtual GC standings. 

UAE Team Emirates-XRG and Bahrain Victorious are closing this gap to make Primož Roglič keep pink. 

KoM (Montelago)

1. Luke Plapp (AUS) Jayco-AlUla 9pts
2. Wilco Kelderman (NED) Visma-Lease a Bike 4pts
3. Igor Arrieta (ESP) UAE Team Emirates-XRG 2pts
4. Diego Ulissi (ITA) XDS-Astana 1pt

Attack

Luke Plapp (Jayco-AlUla)

The Australian in a massive gear launches away with none of his breakaway companions able to follow him. This could be a big moment for Plapp but Kelderman is settling into the chase behind and the gap has stopped growing. 

Plapp amazingly has kicked across to the leaders and has dropped Steinhauser. 

Up front now is Ulissi, Kelderman, Arrieta and Plapp. Meanwhile, Steinhauser is +18" back with Bardet just off the back of him. 

The Fortunato group are a minute and a half down and the peloton are almost six minutes down as Tratnik has retaken control for the pink jersey, Primož Roglič. 

Arrieta has dropped Steinhauser and Plapp and is about to join Kelderman and Ulissi at the front of the race.

Back in the peloton, Andrea Pasqualon is pushing hard on the front of the peloton for Bahrain Victorious. Could they be forcing Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe back into pink?

There's 17 riders out of the front of the peloton split into seven groups on the road. 

Plapp makes it across to Arrieta and Steinhauser in the 2nd group on the road. They are 16" off the back of Kelderman and Ulisi as Arrieta is pushing across solo now. 

In the group +1'45" down with Fortunato is down to the blue jersey as well as Frigo, Howson and Prodhomme as they try to bridge back to the leader. But, they have a long way to go to get back. 

50km to go

Kelderman and Ulissi now have 15" on the chasers who are splitting up. Arrieta and Steinhauser are trying to across to them. 

Kelderman and Ulissi attack the leaders with the rest of the break struggling to stay with him. 

Just under 4km to go to the base of the Montelago climb as Frigo, Howson and Bouwman are trying to get across with Moniquet and Prodhomme. Fortunato following too. However, they have over a minute and a half to close on the leaders. 

60km to go

Ulissi is now looking like the likely rider to take pink at this rate as the group with his XDS-Astana teammae, Fortunato, is now over a minute back. The peloton are letting more time go as Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe want to give the jersey away. 

Recap of stage

Today started with wave after wave of attacks. Multiple riders tried to force the break of the day with three riders spending the first 50km off the front, they were Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek), Mattia Cattaneo (Soudal-QuickStep) and Davide De Pretto (Jayco-AlUla).

They were caught after the intermediate sprint on the first climb of the day, the Croce di Casale. More riders tried with Davide Piganzoli (Polti-VisitMalta), Alessandro Tonelli (Polti-VisitMalta) and Nairo Quintana (Movistar) leading over the top. However, over the top, the peloton came back to them again.

The main selection of the eventual break of the day was made on a little climb just before the second intermediate sprint in Sarnano. A group of 19 riders got away. Onto the cat 1 climb of the Sassotetto and the pace was upped by Dylan van Baarle (Visma-Lease a Bike) who was working for teammate Wilco Kelderman. 

Van Baarle split the group with about 10 riders getting a gap. Over the top of the climb Romain Bardet (Picnic-PostNL) launched with Lorenzo Fortunato (XDS-Astana) as they went for KoM points. They were joined by Georg Steinhauser (EF Education-EasyPost) and Andrea Vendrme (Decathlon-AG2R La Mondiale). 

But, onto the next kicker, Marco Frigo (Israel-Premier Tech) led the chasing group back onto the leaders. This meant the pace slackened, inviting more moves with Kelderman, Stinhauser, Luke Plapp (Jayco-AlUla), Igor Arrieta (UAE Team Emirates-XRG), Diego Ulissi (XDS-Astana), Andrea Vendrame (Decathlon-AG2R La Mondiale) and Bardet getting away bringing us to now with this group holding 42" on the chasers. 

Frigo's move has seen the groups come back together again. Plapp, Arrieta, Frigo, Howson, Kelderman and Ulissi join Bardet, Fortunato, Steinhauser and Vendrame with the latter just slipping off the back of the group. 

Frigo, Kelderman, Plapp and Tarozzi are trying to bridge to the leaders with Arrieta and Howson getting involved too. But they still have over 20" to close on the four leaders. 

Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe now pushing the pace a bit more now with Moscon and Denz on the front of the peloton. The gap has been stuck around five minutes. 

80km to go

Vendrame, Bardet, Fortunato and Steinhauser have 25" on the rest of the break who are really not chasing and working together at all. 

Steinhauser and Vendrame join Bardet and Fortunato at the front of race with 18" on the rest of the break and over five minutes to the peloton. 

Bardet and Fortunato are pushing on with a gap of 17" on the rest of the break. 

KoM (Sassotetto)

1. Lorenzo Fortunato (ITA) XDS-Astana 40pts
2. Romain Bardet (FRA) Picnic-PostNL18pts
3. Manuele Tarozzi (ITA) VF Group-Bardiani CSF-Faizane 12pts
4. Diego Ulissi (ITA) XDS-Astana 9pts
5. Koen Bouwman (NED) Jayco-AlUla 6pts
6. Georg Steinhauser (GER) EF Education-EasyPost 4pts
7. Luke Plapp (AUS) Jayco-AlUla 2pts
8. Marco Frigo (ITA) Israel-Premier Tech 1pt

The chasers has got back on with Andrea Vendrame getting back on. Van Baarle and Fortunato go again and the group splits yet again. 

3km from the top of the Sassotetto climb. 

Fortunato is comfortably in the virtual pink now as Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe have allowed the break almost four and a half minutes. It is Gianni Moscon on the front for them in the peloton. 

Bardet ups the tempo in the break to try and whittle the group down even more and now Fortunato pushes on with Van Baarle yet again. 

There's six riders off the back of the leaders and they haven't lost any more time recently. They're 25" off the back and, if they stay in that position, should get back on over the top. 

Lorenzo Fortunato is the new virtual leader of the race as the gap goes over three minutes. 

100km to go

Over two an a half minutes between the break and the peloton with a group in the gap. Just under 9km to the top of the Sassotetto climb. 

Van Baarle has got his wish and the break has split with nine riders becoming 11 riders as the dead wood is distanced. 

Dylan van Baarle (Visma-Lease a Bike) pushes clear with Fortunato and Plapp. They want to reduce the group as there is a lot of riders in this break who are not working and are just sitting in. 

Onto the Sassotetto climb which is 13.1km long with an average gradient of 7.4% with a max kick of 14% as Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe have complete control of the peloton with Fortunato being the main threat to Primož Roglič at +2'57" down in GC. 

Intermediate sprint (Sarnano)

1. Lorenzo Fortunato (ITA) XDS-Astana 12pts
2. Davide Formolo (ITA) Movistar 8pts
3. Diego Ulissi (ITA) XDS-Astana 5pts
4. Damien Howson (AUS) Q36.5 3pts
5. Jonathan Lastra (ESP) Cofidis 1pt

The break is so big they are not working with splits appearing as riders try to drag riders into working. 

The break have a minute as Mr Breakaway himself, Manuele Tarozzi (VF Group-Bardiani CSF-Faizane), is just off the back of the breakaway. 

Just under 3km to the intermediate sprint in Sarnano with 5km to the base of the Sassotetto climb. 

Igor Arrieta (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) goes on the attack to try and join the leaders and this looks like the peloton may have lost control of the break for the first time. 

Bardet flies across the gap with Sylvain Moniquet (Cofidis). XDS-Astana and UAE Team Emirates are now sending riders across the gap as well. This could be dangerous for Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe. 

You can see the list of riders in our graphics above provided by FirstCycling with most of the riders who are in this group. Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe were leading the peloton but then Bardet kicks again. 

This latest break have 18" on the peloton led by Lidl-Trek. Could this be the break of the day? 

Around 10 riders have a bit of a gap on the peloton with a couple in between. Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe controlling things. Or, at least, attempting to control things. 

All back together. Rochas is the next to go for the umpteenth time today. 

Kelderman is rejoined by Tonelli as well as Jefferson Cepeda (Movistar). But, the attck continue to come. This has been non-stop since the start today. 

Kelderman now goes solo with a handful of riders just off the back of the Dutchman's wheel. 

The break is all back together again. Dani Martinez (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) is now controlling the peloton. Kelderman and Tonelli have a small gap but the rest re dragged back. 

Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe are trying to stop the attacks but Plapp and Marcellusi get a little gap in the feed zone. 

Attack in peloton

Luke Plapp (Jayco-AlUla)
Christian Scaroni (XDS-Astana)

Among others. They get no gap at all as the leaders have 11" on the peloton. 

Louis Meintjes (Inetermarche-Wanty) is in this new break after a day at the back. Romain Bardet and Wilco Kelderman also here with Piganzoli, Tonelli and Quintana. This is a very talented group but more moves are coming behind. 

Multiple riders come across to the leaders with Visma-Lease a Bike having a rider in this break. Six riders have a gap on the peloton. 

KoM (Croce di Casale)

1. Davide Piganzoli (ITA) Polti-VisitMalta 9pts
2. Alessandro Tonelli (ITA) Polti-VisitMalta 4pts
3. Nairo Quintana (COL) Movistar 2pts
4. Marco Frigo (ITA) Israel-Premier Tech 1pt

Now onto a very technical descent. 

Attack

Nairo Quintana (Movistar)
Davide Piganzoli (Polti-VisitMalta)
Alesandro Tonellii (Polti-VisitMalta)

They have a good gap and this could be very dangerous to the GC as Piganzoli is an  extremely talented climber who is 12th at 43" down. Quintana is 24th at 2'44". 

140km to go

Knox now just left to fry off the front as Polti-VisitMalta are trying to close it down. 

James Knox (Soudal-QuickStep) rolls off the front solo as Van Aert and Pedersen are dropped by the peloton. 

Attack

Damien Howson (Q36.5)
Marco Brenner (Tudor)
Georg Steinhauser (EF Education-EasyPost)

But that is snuffed out as well. 

Josh Tarling (Ineos Grenadiers) and Nicola Prodhomme (Decathlon-AG2R La Mondiale) try the next move but again they are caught. 

Wilco Kelderman (Visma-Lease a Bike) is the latest rider to go but it is just a long line of rider with Egan Bernal (Ineos Grenadiers) following the wheels and potentially getting into splits. 

The peloton is very bunched up as the pace slows again but then Double tries to launch once again with Marcellusi and Mattia Bais. They aren't allowed to go. 

Onto the category three climb of the Croce di Casale they go. This is a 7.7km climb with an average gradient of 4.6% and a max kick of 10% with Remy Rochas (Groupama-FDJ) trying the latest move with Paul Double (Jayco-AlUla), Lorenzo Fortuunato (XDS-Astana) and Anthony Perez (Cofidis), but all back together again. 

Multiple attacks are coming with Mark Donovan (Q36.5), Lorenzo Fortunato (XDS-Astana), Pello Bilbao (Bahrain Victorious), Romain Bardet (Picnic-PostNL), Quinten Pacher (Groupama-FDJ), Thymen Arensman (Ineos Grenadiers) and others. 

They aren't allowed an inch, unsurprisingly. 

The leaders sit up as two large groups make it across but the peloton are onto them and it is all back together. 

Intermediate sprint (Roccafluvione)

1. Mads Pedersen (DEN) Lidl-Trek 12pts
2. Davide De Pretto (ITA) Jayco-AlUla 8pts
3. Mattia Cattaneo (ITA) Soudal-QuickStep 5pts
4. Lorenzo Milesi (ITA) Movistar 3pts
5. Quinten Pacher (FRA) Groupama-FDJ 1pt

The leaders are still out front with just 17" as Van Aert and Tjøtta are caught yet again. 

150km to go

Pedersen, Cattaneo and De Pretto have 26" with 3km to the intermediate sprint in Roccafluvione. 

Bilbao is caught behind and Van Aert launches again with Martin Tjøtta (Arkea-B&B Hotels). 

Bilbao nips off the front on his own with Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe back on the front yet again. 

Van Aert goes again with Bilbao, Paul Double (Jayco-AlUla) and multiple other riders and the games start all over again. 

Tretnik is joined by teammate, Nico Denz as Van Aert is chatting to his former teammate and the pace is gone in the bunch. The break finally have over 30" for the first time. 

The gap is starting to go out but more attacks have come with Simon Guglielmi (Arkea-B&B Hotels) kicking across the gap. Tratnik is trying to control things and stop all the moves and now the peloton eases. 

Marcellusi tries yet another move but Jan Tratnik (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) moves to the front and is now setting a strong tempo with Lidl-Trek also moving to the front to slow the attacking. 

Anton Kuzmin (XDS-Astana) is well out of the back on his own looking tired and struggling to continue. 

There's a big split in the peloton with a large group losing touch. Not sure if anyone up there in GC is involved in that split, though. 

Kielich, Zambanini, Germani, M. Bais and Brenner are dragged back by  the peloton with the others in the gap also swallowed up by the bunch. 

160km to go

The leaders of Pedersen, De Pretto and Cattaneo have 11" on the chasing group with the peloton at 33" down. But, it is being closed down yet again. 

Hugo Houle (Israel-Premier Tech) goes on the latest attack out of the peloton. 

More attacks come behind, though. Visma-Lease a Bike go again with Van Aert and a few others pushing hard to join him. 

Embret Svestad-Bårdseng, Doriann Godon, Mattia Bais, Edoardo Zambanini (Bahrain Voctorious), Timo Kielich (Alpecin-Deceuninck), Lorenzo Germani (Groupama-FDJ) and Marco Brenner (Tudor) are the riders in the chase group as Pedersen, De Pretto and Cattaneo still lead. 

The peloton is in bits after a very technical descent. There's a frantic chase to try and close the gaps down. 

More moves are coming off the front as the peloton has split with the likes of Mattia Bais involved in a strong looking break but Visma-Lease a Bike, XDS-Astana and Ineos Grenadiers have missed it so are chasing. 

Attack

Dorian Godon (Decathlon-AG2R La Mondiale)

He has a gap on this technical descent with the peloton led by Visma-Lease a Bike, XDS-Astana and EF Education-EasyPost. 

Embret Svestad-Bårdseng (Arkea-B&B Hotels) has been trying multiple moves on the national day of Norway. But, he is not allowed a gap. 

170km to go

Pedersen, Cattaneo and De Pretto have 22" as the moves continue to try and get away from the peloton. 

Puncture

Davide Formolo (Movistar)

Very fast change and he s back riding again as there was a brief lull in the peloton and the trio have over 20" again. 

Attack

Xavier Azparren (Q36.5)
Ethan Hayter (Soudal-QuickStep)
Bart Lemmen (Visma-Lease a Bike)
Mikkel Honore (EF Education-EasyPost)

They are, once again, dragged back. 

Andre Vendrame (Decathlon-AG2R La Mondiale) makes a big effort to join the Van Aert group but that sees the group all come back together. 

Attack

Wout Van Aert (Visma-Lease a Bike)

He flies across the gap to Frigo and Geniets but the attacks continue in the peloton as they all try and join Pedersen, De Pretto and Cattaneo. 

Attack

Marco Frigo (Israel-Premier Tech)
Kevin Geniets (Groupama-FDJ)

But more moves are coming behind led by De Bondt. Just 9" up to the trio at the front of Pedersen, Cattaneo and De Pretto. 

Attack

Mark Donovan (Q36.5)
Martin Marcellusi (VF Group-Bardiani CSF-Faizane)

Prodhomme (Decathlon-AG2R La Mondiale) closes it down again. 

More moves continue to come off the front with Remy Rochas and Clement Davy of Groupama-FDJ trying to get a gap. But, they are swiftly dragged back by Picnic-PostNL. 

Puncture

Filippo Fiorelli (VF Group-Bardiani CSF-Faizane)

Not what he would've wanted as he could've been ideal for today's stage finale. 

Attack

Dries De Bondt (Decathlon-AG2R La Mondiale)
Alex Edmondson (Picnic-PostNL)
Ethan Hayter (Soudal-QuickStep)

However, they are quickly dragged back. The leading trio have over 20 seconds gap. 

Again, the pace drops in the peloton and the trio up front drag their gap out to 14" as the riders have completed 10km. 

Maestri makes it back into the peloton and immediately he is going up the side trying to get back to the front. 

Three leaders:

Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek)
Mattia Cattaneo (Soudal-QuickStep)
Davide De Pretto (Jayco-AlUla)

Pedersen is looking so strong and they have a nice gap on the bunch with a few riders in the gap trying to join them. 

Attack

Mattia Cattaneo (Soudal-QuickStep)
Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek)
Wout Van Aert (Visma-Lease a Bike)
Kevin Geniets (Groupama-FDJ)
Pello Bilbao (Bahrain Victorious)

And several others. Van Aert missed a big acceleration from Pedersen just after this move. 

A group of 10 riders get a small gap and the peloton led by Nico Denz (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) looks happy. But then new moves come. 

Bike change

Mirco Maestri (Polti-VisitMalta)

He goes from on the attack to out of the back but he should be able to get back in soon. 

Attack

Wout Van Aert (Visma-Lease a Bike)
Pello Bilbao (Bahrain Victorious)
Nicola Conci (XDS-Astana)
Kevin Geniets (Groupama-FDJ)

But that is dragged back as Kanter is also caught. 

Polti-VisitMalta are very keen to get away with both of the Bais brothers as well as Mirco Maestri. Marcellusi is also still trying moves. 

Attack

Martin Marcellusi (VF Group-Bardiani CSF-Faizane) 

He leads a move of about 5 riders but Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe are controlling as Wout Poels (XDS-Astana) is tries to go as well. 

The XDS-Astana rider is Max Kanter with Mattia Bais (Polti-VisitMalta) trying to get up the road but that move was marked. 

197km to go

The flag is waved and the racing begins with immediate attacks coming off the front led by XDS-Astana. 

Neutral start

The riders have started the neutralised zone of the stage with sunny conditions and temperatures in the high teens to low twenties. 

It's Primož Roglič's second day in pink at this race. Last time the Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe rider had it he kept it for a day thanks to Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) storming to another stage win. Will today be similar Does the Slovenian want to give the jersey away yet again?

The riders have been signing on in front of a packed crowd in Giulianova and are getting ready for the neutralised start. 

Wout Van Aert (Visma-Lease a Bike) hasn't had the start he was probably hoping for but maybe today could change as the stage, on paper, suits him well. He does have Simon Yates in 9th place over just 39" down but will surely be allowed some freedom today. 

The GC is very tight at the moment with just 46" splitting the top 15 riders and just under three minutes splitting the top 25, so the GC could really change today if the breakaway is right. 

The race is expected to be chaotic today with a breakaway success definitely on the cards. But, who are Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe fine with letting go up the road? 

You'd expect Mathias Vacek (Lidl-Trek) who sits in 8th place at +37" down would be an ideal candidate to allow go as he would retake pink for Lidl-Trek and take the pressure off Primož Roglič and his team with another tough day to come tomorrow. 

However, are Lidl-Trek thinking the same and does Vacek have the legs to pull it off after a week of working for Mads Pedersen and Giulio Ciccone.  

The neutral start of today's stage is at 12:15 local time with kilometre zero coming roughly 10 minutes after that. 

Here's the profile on our hands today, and for a deeper look at what the stage has in store, check out our full preview.

With four seconds between Ayuso and Roglič, the dynamics of the GC battle today will be charged.

Our news writer James Moultrie is on the ground in Italy and has delved into deep into the GC analysis of the race at it stands.

Read the full piece here.

Yesterday's stage was the beginning of an upheaval in the general classification, with pre-race favourite Primož Roglič seizing the pink jersey, but falling short of GC rival Juan Ayuso on the stage finish.

Giro d'Italia: Juan Ayuso shakes up GC with stage 7 victory atop Tagliacozzo

Buongiorno and welcome to our live coverage of stage 8 of the 2025 Giro d'Italia!