Vuelta a España 2015: Stage 8

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January 1 - September 13, Puebla de Don Fabrique, Spain, Road - WorldTour

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Hello and welcome to Cyclingnews' live coverage of stage 8 of the 2015 Vuelta a España.

 

Hello and welcome to our live coverage from stage 8 of the Vuelta to Murcia.  You join us with 30km of race covered. There have been a few attacks but the moment the peloton are as one.

After yesterday's mountain-top finish - the first serious test for the GC men - it's all gently downhill for most of today's stage until we have two third category climbs in the final 40km of the stage.

Heading into the stage, here's where we stand on GC:

Chris Froome and Tejay van Garderen both lost time yesterday and sit outside of the top ten after seven stages:

146km remaining from 182km

 

The peloton are averaging 50km/h at the moment, so little respite for a break to go clear. Surely they can't hold this pace for the remainder of the stage. At the front Orica GreenEdge are keep their young race leader, Chaves out of trouble. 

Chris Froome is also near the front but the complexion of his race looks a little different after the Tour de France winner was dropped on the climb yesterday. Fabio Aru had the measure of all his GC rivals and Froome was found wanting. Still, there's a long, long way to go in this year's Vuelta a Espana.

We have a break. 38km covered and Iljo Keisse (Etixx-Quick Step), Jimmy Engoulvent (Europcar), Alex Howes (Cannondale-Garmin), Tom Van Asbroeck (LottoNL-Jumbo), Mattia Cattaneo (Lampre-Merida) and Ángel Madrazo (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA) have moved clear, already creating a gap of just over two minutes. That looks like the break of the day then.

The gap moves out to three minutes as Orica look content to let this one go after a frantic start to the stage. We've covered 46km so far.

No real GC threat in the break, with Mattia Cattaneo (Lampre-Merida) the best placed rider 36:12 down on Chaves. 

132km remaining from 182km

Tinkoff Saxo for Sagan and Giant for Degenkolb have now moved up to the front of the peloton and started to set the pace. They obviously don't want to give the break too much room, even with such a long way to still to go.

Barry Ryan has spoken to Chris Froome at the start this morning and this is what the Tour de France champion had to say:

Back to the action in the stage and after 64km of racing the break have 4:30 over the peloton.

The break survived on stage 7 and today the peloton aren't being so lenient in the amount of time they're willing to play with. The gap slips to 3:40 now with Tinkoff Saxo and Giant Alpecin both on the front and setting the pace for their sprinters. 

 Just over 100km to and the gap has dropped by another 10 seconds, down to 3:30.

Into roughly the last two hours of racing  - 90km to  - and Giant and Tinkoff have the break pegged at 3'30.

Tinkoff in the news already this morning with the team confirming that they are still on the market for more riders in 2016. They've already signed a few riders, including Adam Blythe but they're also after a couple of climbers. You can read the news about the team, right here.

While we've just been informed that Team LottoNL-Jumbo will continue with Bianchi bikes for 2016 and 2017. 

Meanwhile, away from the top pro ranks, the Tour de l'Avenir concludes today. Pierre Carrey is there for CN and has written some wonderful profiles on some of the young up-and-coming riders who have hit the headlines. Impress your friends with your expert knowledge on the riders to watch in the future, by reading this.

In case you missed the news from yesterday Dan Martin has signed for Etixx-QuickStep for the next two seasons. You can read what he and Patrick Lefevere had to say about the move, right here.

The six leaders continue to share the pace but the peloton have them at 3'20 with 70km to go. The only intermediate sprint in today's stage is coming up, but after that we have two third categorised climbs. 

Majka put in a strong ride yesterday. Here's what he had to say: 

65km remaining from 182km

The break are around 25km from the foot of the Cresta del Gallo climb. They'll crest it twice before heading to the finish.

Can Bouhanni feature today? That's one of the biggest questions considering that the Frenchman has struggled in the race so far. Here's what his DS Jean-Luc Jonrond told LeTour this morning: 

We've not seen much from Cofidis so far in the stage and their leadout has faltered in the sprints so far in the race. Can they get it right today and help Bouhanni net his first Grand Tour stage of the 2015 season?

About to hit the intermediate sprint with the bunch at 1'41 back on the break.

And it's Tinkoff Saxo who are setting the pace. They want to get rid of as many sprinters as possible on the two ascents before the line. The climb is around 4.2km long and they need to complete it twice. Can they get rid of Bouhanni, Ewan and Degenkolb?

There's a crash in the Vuelta. It looks like van Garderen is down in this one. 

It really doesnt look good for van Garderen. He's holding his collarbone. 

Boeckmans is still on the ground, van Garderen too. That was a huge crash and Bouhanni has been involved in the fall too.

48km remaining from 182km

Tinkoff Saxo are still on the front and setting the pace, they're not going to sit up at this point.

And that's Dan Martin also down from the crash we see. This fall has taken down a number of big names in the peloton.

We've no confirmation on the Dan Martin situation, other than he was in that fall. Van Garderen, it looks like, he's out of the Vuelta a Espana. A huge blow for the American rider.

There are riders still all over the road as they try and chase back to the main field. The six riders up front have just 47 seconds with 44km to go. 

Onto the first ascent of the Cresta del Gallo. Jimmy Engoulvent (Europcar) and Iljo Keisse (Etixx - Quick Step) both lose contact.

It's a really rough surface on the climb as Howes pushes on for Cannondale Garmin. Chaves is back with the peloton now. 

Howes is going to crest the the top of the climb in the lead as Tinkoff and Movistar set the pace at the front of the peloton.

40km remaining from 182km

What's going on. Howes has now crashed on the descent. He's back on his bike and riding again.

Madrazo is now the lone leader on the stage with 34km to go.

Confirmation that Tejay van Garderen is out of the race. 

29km remaining from 182km

They're racing towards the foot of the final climb once more. The road tightens dramatically on the ascent to positioning is going to be key.

Team Sky have moved up for the first time in the stage as they look to protect Roche and Froome before the final climb. 21km to go.

Thomas peels off having worked for Froome. 

Terptra is trying to force his way clear on the lower slopes of the climb. One of his teammates goes now too. That's Brambilla who leads the race but a ride from Jumbo is coming over.

Team Sky are leading the peloton, the two leaders, Roosen and Brambilla have a few seconds on the peloton as they climb towards the summit.

And now there's an attack from Canndonale and it's marked by Terpstra.

And a Caja Rural rider goes clear too. We have five riders up the road and now a rider from FDJ is making a move. Lampre too.

Rojas is on the move too. 

Confirmation that Dan Martin, who started the day in third overall, is also out of the race after that earlier crash.

Dumoulin has now moved to the front and he's upped the pace. Chaves is trying to match him on the climb but the Dutchman has the bunch lined out.

Race radio confirms that Bouhanni has also withdrawn after that crash. 

It's still Tom Dumoulin who leads the peloton but there are a number riders still clear of the peloton. We're still on the climb as Terpstra goes once more. 16km to go. 

The riders on the attack and in the lead are:

It's a hugely technical descent as we saw on the first pass. Valverde has now attacked, Rodrgiuez and Chaves. Terpstra has been caught on the descent already.

Another crash and Rojas goes over the barriers. He's quickly on his feet, thankfully. 

13km remaining from 182km

10km remaining from 182km

Sagan has tried to go clear now with a small group but there's still a long way to go.

Sagan has been brought back by the main field with 8.6km go to. 

The three leaders now are 10 kilometres José Gonçalves. Elissonde and Losada.

Sagan has crashed. He's down on the ground.

His stage is over and he's fuming. He's not taking any help from the medical car, it looks like he might have collided with a car or moto. 

The three leaders have 15 seconds with 7km to go.

19 seconds now for the leading trio. They have a strong chance of making it to the finish with 5km to go.

The peloton or what's left of it are still trying to close the move down but the gap is still over 10 seconds with 4km to go. It's going to be so close. 

3km remaining from 182km

1km to go and Hansen has attacked for Lotto. 

1.4km to go, apologies. The Australian has a decent gap though but he's about to be caught. 

Hansen has been caught. 

Here comes the sprint and Jasper Stuyven is coming through. 

The Trek rider takes a huge win at the Vuelta. A messy sprint but he's takes it well.

classification after stage 8

A hugely dramatic day at the Vuelta then with attacks, crashes (always too many), controversy and a fine sprint win for Trek Factory Racing. 

Chaves has just been interviewed post-stage. The young Orica GreenEdge rider now leads every jersey competition in the race and continues his fine form. He was on the back foot after that major crash but he and Orica didn't panic and they survive for another day.

A reminder of the new GC in the race: 

Thanks for joining us today. You can find our race report, full results and photos, right here.

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