Vuelta a Espana: Arndt wins stage 8

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Nikias Arndt (Team Sunweb) won a wet and wild stage 8 of the Vuelta a España Saturday, triumphing from the break in Igualada. The German outsprinted Alexander Aranburu (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA) and Tosh van der Sande (Lotto Soudal) in terrible weather in Catalunya.

It was another day for the break, as neither the sprinter’s teams nor the GC contenders fancied their chances on a largely flat stage featuring a climb in the final 30km.

As a result, the 21-man break was left to contest the win, with attacks flying from the Puerto de Monserrat onwards. There was a regrouping on the soaking descent, and despite numerous attacks on the run-in to the finish, it would come down to a reduced group sprint.

Arndt had stayed in the wheels for much of the time up until the final straight, where he emerged from behind Ruben Guerreiro (Trek-Segafredo) to launch what would become the stage-winning effort.

With the peloton looking to stay safe in the wet, the gap to the leaders grew to over nine minutes by the finish, meaning that Nicolas Edet (Cofidis) ensured Miguel Ángel López (Astana) would once again be limited to one day in the red leader’s jersey.

How it unfolded

Stage 8 of the Vuelta a España would be something of a welcome break from the punishing slopes of the Alto Costa de la Mas, with much of the stage being raced over flat or rolling roads. The Puerto de Montserrat (7.4km at 6.6 per cent) was the main obstacle, with its summit coming 26km out.

It took 30km for the break to get established, as attacks flew early on. With a second-category climb close enough to the finish to put off sprinter’s teams from working, and with GC riders saving their energy for Sunday’s stage in Andorra, the break would stand a good chance of fighting for the win in Igualada.In the end, just over 20 men got away.

Former red jersey Dylan Teuns (Bahrain-Merida) was there along with stage 6 winner Jesús Herrada (Cofidis).

The duo were joined out front by Jorge Arcas (Movistar Team), Silvan Dillier (AG2R La Mondiale), Luis León Sánchez (Astana Pro Team), Jonas Koch (CCC Team), Zdeněk Štybar (Deceuninck-Quick Step), Tobias Ludvigsson (Groupama-FDJ), Carl Fredrik Hagen and Tosh Van der Sande (Lotto Soudal), Nic Dlamini (Dimension Data), David de la Cruz (Team Ineos), Ruben Guerreiro (Katusha Alpecin), Nikias Arndt and Martijn Tusveld (Team Sunweb), Peter Stetina (Trek-Segafredo), Sergio Henao (UAE Team Emirates), Alex Aranburu and Jonathan Lastra (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA), Nicolas Edet (Cofidis) and Fernando Barceló (Euskadi-Murias).

Their advantage maxed out at the six-minute mark, with Astana and Jumbo-Visma taking little interest in bringing them back early.

Much of the stage there was little incident as the break sped along at speeds of over 40kph.Štybar took the intermediate sprint, but the real action would have to wait until the only climb of the day – the second-category Puerto de Monserrat.

As the rain fell, the break reached the climb six minutes up on the peloton with 33km to race.Stetina was the first man to chance his arm, with the Trek rider jumping away almost halfway up the climb.

He quickly built a gap of 30 seconds as the chasers fractured behind.Barceló was the next man to go, eventually making his way up to the American 1.5km from the summit. The attacking continued further back, with Herrada also making it across at the top.

The heavens really opened on the descent, and there was a rejigging up front as Tusveld and Guerreiro joined Barceló in the race lead, with the remains of the break chasing 20 seconds behind.

Seven minutes separated the front of the race and the peloton with 10km to race, and as the remains of the break lay 20 seconds down on the leaders, Edet was in the provisional race lead.

Attacks came and went in the final 10km, with Ludvigsson, Edet and Štybar making attempts to get away. The combination of roundabouts and wet roads proved treacherous, as both Tusveld and a camera motorbike wiped out while cornering.

In the end, Arndt emerged from the chaos, blasting past Guerreiro’s leadout in the finishing straight. The German eased to victory ahead of the remains of the break, while Edet could console himself with the red jersey.