2023 Vuelta a España Stage 8 Results & Recap
Stage 8 of the 2023 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
Roglic wins stage 8.
Primož Roglič (TJV) won stage 8 atop Xorret de Catí ahead of Remco Evenepoel (SOQ) and Juan Ayuso (UAE) from GC group of favorites which included Jumbo-Visma's Jonas Vingegaard and Sepp Kuss, UAE Team Emirates' João Almeida and Marc Soler and Movistar’s Enric Mas.
"It’s nice! Now I can be even more relaxed," Roglic said. "Most of all I’m happy I recovered after crashing. I’m just enjoying now and we go day by day. We always hope for the best. The guys did a really amazing job, pulling behind a strong breakaway. I had no other option [than to win] in the end. It was a hard climb! That was the first time I did it and I didn’t really know the finish. It’s always a bit of a gamble in a sprint but I had the legs to do it. We have at least three GC riders now! And maybe someone else is coming…"
Sepp Kuss (Jumbo-Visma) finished in seventh place, which was good enough to take the red jersey off the back of best young rider Lenny Martinez (Groupama FDJ). He now leads the race by 43 seconds ahead of Mas.
"I always knew that the jersey was a possibility, but I felt good, and I thought I would try to attack while we still had the numbers," Kuss said after the stage. "I knew it would be a really good stage for Primoz [Roglic] and he said he wanted to go for it. At the bottom of the climb, he was also ready to go as well, but I said: ‘I’ll put myself up there first’. I had to suffer over the top, but it was amazing to see Primoz win the stage, and then, when I crossed the line, I realized I could also be in the red jersey, so it was really cool. [When Chris Horner, the last American to lead a GT, won La Vuelta 13], he was super impressive. For the third week, I’ll need to get some 44cm handlebars and get some leverage to get on the pedals on the Angliru like Chris Horner. That’s not that big gap when there’s a TT coming! But I’ll do my best. I felt really good so far, and there’s no reason to just let it go easy. The hardest stages are still to come and, for now, I’m just happy to wear this jersey. Usually, I like to be further back in the peloton, now I should be further front. That should be something new."
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