2017 Vuelta a España Stage 8 Results & Recap
Stage 8 of the 2017 Vuelta a España is in the books. The final results and standings are below, followed by our recap of how the race unfolded.
Race Recap
Alaphilippe wins stage 8 of the Vuelta a Espana
Julian Alaphilippe (QuickStep Floors) claimed the biggest win of his career in Xorret de Cati after outclimbing his breakaway companions Jan Polanc (UAE-Team Emirates) and Rafal Majka (Bora-Hansgrohe) after 199.5 kilometres of racing.
Chris Froome (Team Sky) has extended his lead in the overall general classification over Esteban Chaves by a few more seconds on the last climb of the day He now leads the Colombian by 28 seconds. Third overall is Nicolas Roche (BMC Racing Team) at 41 seconds.
Like in previous stages, a large pack of riders escaped up the road before the first categorized climb, about 35 kilometres into the stage. This time it was 21 riders who pulled away. They included: Nélson Oliveira (Movistar Team), Jan Polanc (UAE Team Emirates), Rafal Majka (Bora – Hansgrohe), Emanuel Buchmann (Bora – Hansgrohe), Bart De Clercq (Lotto Soudal), Maxime Monfort (Lotto Soudal), Clément Chevrier (AG2R La Mondiale), Alberto Losada (Team Katusha - Alpecin), Daan Olivier (Team Lotto NL - Jumbo), Guillaume Bonnafond (Cofidis, Solutions Crédits), Sergey Chernetsky (Astana Pro Team), Serge Pauwels (Team Dimension Data), Julian Alaphilippe (Quick-Step Floors), Brendan Canty (Cannondale Drapac), Michel Kreder (Aqua Blue Sport), Loïc Vliegen (BMC Racing Team), Laurens De Vreese (Astana Pro Team), Przemyslaw Niemiec (UAE Team Emirates), Jesús Hernández (Trek – Segafredo), Domen Novak (Bahrain - Merida) and Christoph Pfingsten (Bora – Hansgrohe).
Despite the size, the leaders worked well together and gained a maximum advantage of five minutes over a peloton lead by Team Sky. By the time the breakaway got to the last climb, the gap was around four minutes. Christoph Pfingsten and Emanuel Buchmann (Bora-Hansgrohe) drove the breakaway to set up Majka, who attacked without any hesitation when the road turned up.
The Polish climber took Alaphilippe along with him on the climb, while the rest of the original breakaway fractured quickly. Meanwhile, back in the bunch, Froome stepped on the gas to shake off Chaves, his closest rival, and gain some more time in the GC.
Majka couldn’t dispatch Alaphilippe and eventually Polanc clawed his way back into the mix. Across the finish line, the young French rider proved his strength by taking victory. \n
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