2017 Vuelta a Espana: Stage 8 Results

25-year-old Julian Alaphilippe became the sixth Quick-Step Floors rider to take a Grand Tour stage win this season, riding to a memorable victory on stage 8 of the Vuelta a España.

After a four-month injury lay-off, which had him skip the Ardennes Classics and the Tour de France, Alaphilippe made up it with today’s stage, which took the bunch over the punishing Xorret de Cati (5 kilometers, 9% average gradient), a climb last used in the race seven years ago, but first tackled in 1998.

The Quick-Step Floors rider was part of a large group that jumped clear after 40 kilometers and established a five-minute lead before the bunch began chasing hard inside the final 50 kilometers. Despite the furious tempo set by several teams, the escapees arrived with a comfortable advantage at the bottom of the ascent, which witnessed a first selection being made after the first kilometer, once the riders hit the double-digit ramps.

Seven kilometers from the finish, Bora-Hansgrohe duo Emanuel Buchmann and Rafal Majka upped the pace, but Alaphilippe responded with fantastic ease and continued to ride superbly and stay there despite several other attempts of the Pole, who dug deep in order to drop the Frenchman; Majka continued to attack, hoping to get a gap over the top, but Julian mastered the excruciating gradients of Xorret de Cati to perfection, showing composure and confidence on a climb he’s never ridden before.

In the downhill, the two were joined by Jan Polanc (UAE Team Emirates) and soldiered on to the finish, where the Slovenian accelerated only to be immediately countered by Julian, who with 400 meters to go put in such a strong sprint that he distanced both his opponents and cruised to the finish arms aloft and almost in disbelief, as he nabbed his first career Grand Tour stage victory.

“It’s incredible, I don’t have words for it, I can’t tell you how much this victory means for me after being away for such a long time. I knew I was able to come back, a belief shared with my family and the team, but to get a Grand Tour stage win, my first one, it’s really amazing and it makes me extremely happy”, a beaming Julian said after becoming the 55th French rider victorious in a Vuelta a España stage.

UAE Team Emirates Continues Strong Showing

 

Today’s efforts mark the fourth day in a row for UAE Team Emirates’ in or leading the main breakaway and second consecutive day a Slovenian rider from the team stands on the podium.

Commenting on his podium finish, Jan Polanc said: “It was a very hard and warm stage. Today we had some headwind, but there was a good group in front and we all worked together to maintain our position. The last climb was hard and steep so when we reached the bottom I had to do it at my own pace keeping keeping a distance to the guys in front of me but chasing as best as I could and coming in second. Towards the end it was impossible to beat Alaphilippe as he is a great sprinter but I’m very pelased with the second place.”

Third for Majka

Rafal Majka attacked several times on the steepest sections, but couldn’t get rid of his last rival. Entering the last kilometer together after a short downhill, Polanc joined them. But it was Alaphilippe who was unstoppable on the home straight, while Rafal had to settle for third place.

“The team did a great job today,” said Majka. “A big thanks to Emu and Christoph. We tried everything, and I think we did no mistake. In the end I just couldn’t drop Alaphilippe, and after we hit the downhill, I knew already that it will be almost impossible to take the win today. To be honest, I still don’t feel 100% after the problems I had in the beginning. But it’s getting better and better and the legs will come. There are plenty opportunities ahead of us and we’ll go for them.”

Froome Extends Lead

Behind the escapees, the GC contenders had their own fight, which was ignited by Alberto Contador (Trek-Segafredo), who attacked eight kilometers from home. Red jersey Chris Froome (Team Sky) responded and soon the peloton disintegrated, as the two continued to trade punches on the steep Xorret de Cati.

The pair finished together, 17 seconds ahead of the next chasing GC group.

That performance ensured Froome pushed his advantage out to 28 seconds overall in the red jersey battle, and also saw him hold on to the combined jersey as the race enters its second week.

Froome was understandably a happy man after the finish.

He said: “I wasn’t chasing the stage victory today. It was all about the general classification. But I’m going to take advantage of it while my legs are feeling good and it makes sense for me to keep pushing. I think most importantly for me was to keep trying to open up the time gaps. We’ll see where we’re at after the first rest day.

“I know I keep saying it every day but really a massively thank you to my team-mates – in particular today Ian Stannard, Christian Knees and David Lopez. They did pretty much the whole stage again to control the breakaway and keep me in red. If I’d been on any other team I think they would have said we’ll let the red jersey go today because the guys need a break. The guys have been so strong and it’s thanks to them I’m still in the red jersey.”

“I’m just really happy to increase my lead to most of my rivals, and to be feeling the way I am at the moment after a tough Tour de France. It’s a fantastic feeling to be feeling like this.”

Stage 8 Brief Results:

1. Julian Alaphilippe (France / Quick-Step Floors) 4:37:55″
2. Jan Polanc (Slovenia / UAE Team Emirates) +2″
3. Rafal Majka (Poland / BORA-hansgrohe)
4. Serge Pauwels (Belgium / Team Dimension Data) +26″
5. Nelson Oliveira (Portugal / Movistar Team) +28″
6. Michel Kreder (Netherlands / Aqua Blue Sport) +32″
7. Maxime Monfort (Belgium / Lotto-Soudal)
8. Bart De Clercq (Belgium / Lotto-Soudal) +34″
9. Alberto Losada (Spain / Katusha-Alpecin) +37″
10. Emanuel Buchmann (Germany / BORA-hansgrohe) +1:04″

General Classification After Stage 8:

1. Chris Froome (Britain / Team Sky) 32:26:13″
2. Esteban Chaves (Colombia / Orica-Scott) +28″
3. Nicolas Roche (Ireland / BMC Racing Team) +41″
4. Vincenzo Nibali (Italy / Bahrain-Merida) +53″
5. Tejay van Garderen (U.S. / BMC Racing Team) +58″
6. Fabio Aru (Italy / Astana Pro Team) +1:06″
7. David De La Cruz (Spain / Quick-Step Floors) +1:08″
8. Adam Yates (Britain / Orica-Scott) +1:18″
9. Michael Woods (Canada / Cannondale-Drapac) +1:41″
10. Ilnur Zakarin (Russia / Katusha-Alpecin) +1:57″