2021 season, Giro d'Italia, Grand Tours

Giro d’Italia 2021 : Stage 8 – Victory for Lafay, Attila still the one on GC

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Stage 8 of the 2021 Giro d’Italia had equal shares of craziness and torpor. Victor Lafay of Cofidis won from the day’s breakaway. Meanwhile, the GC riders all came home together and a couple of sprinters made minor headlines (for the wrong reasons).

Go Go Go Go Cofidis!!!

Victor Lafay has put my beloved Cofs back where they belong, on the top step of grand tour racing! The Frenchman tore the stage apart with a display of rip-roaring panache, derring-do and the kind of cycling that just hasn’t been seen for years. It’s a stage we’ll be talking about for years and you’ll be able to tell your grandkids you watched it all live.

OK. Not really. But it has been lean times for us fans of the Mighty Red Machine. Don’t believe me? Check out this stat.

Yep, more wins this *week* than all of last year. We haven’t won a grand tour stage since 2019 and we last won a Giro stage in 2010. So allow me my celebration, it may not happen again until I get my bus pass.

However, alas, Cofidis will still be the butt of all the cycling jokes.

Action stations

The stage saw a massive fight over the first hour to set the breakaway. Eventually, an agreeable nine-man group was allowed up the road and would inevitably contest the finish.

Inaction stations

Once the breakaway was settled, the peloton became a 150-man lycra blob that very much had the non-competitive look of a Saturday cycling club.

Actions stations again

The final 20 kilometres saw some attackity skirmishes fly in

Finally, our man from Cofidis did the business

The team were happy

The fans were happy

Victor was happy

“It was a complicated day but I’m really happy. I wanted to be at the front and then save energy. I managed the attacks from the other riders and I felt good. With 3 Ks to go I counter attached and the legs were good so I managed to get the gap. 

It’s amazing. I can’t believe it yet”

A tale of two sprinters

Sprinter 1

The adjectiveless Caleb Ewan (Lotto) pulled out of the Giro today

How it started

How it finished

 

Ewan’s team say he abandoned with knee pain. Pretty much in the same way as “I have a headache” so am having take-away rather than cooking.

Sprinter 2

With a 10km uphill section to finish the stage, what else could sprinter Fernando Gaviria (UAE) do but get in the breakaway? Because… because… no I got nothing. The Colombian did provide some memorable moments though.

The Last Word

Results

Stage 8 Top 5 

1 Victor the Victorius Lafay (Cofdis-dis-dis) 4:06:47

2 Francesco Gavazzi (EOLO-Mr Blue Sky) +0:36

3 Nikias Ardnt (Team BDSM) +0:37

4 Nelson Olivera (Movistar Chaos Fundacition) +0:41

5 Giovanni Carboni (Bardiani-CSF-Farfalle) +0:44

GC Top 10 

1 Attila Valter (Groupama FDJ) 31:10:53

2 Remco Evenepoel (Deceuninck QuickStep) +0:11

3 Egan Bernal (INEOS Grenadiers) +0:16

4 Aleksandr Vlasov (Astana) +0:24

5 Hugh Carthy (EF Education-Nippo) +0:38

6 Damiano Caruso (Bahrain Victorious) +0:39

7 Giulio Ciccone (Trek-Segafredo) +0:41

8 Dan Martin (Israel Start-up Nation) +0:47

9 Simon Yates (Team Bike Exchange) +0:49

10 Louis Vervaeke (Alpecin-Fenix) +0:50

All the jerseys

Leader’s jersey Attila Valter (Groupama FDJ)

Points jersey Tim Merlier (Alpecin-Fenix)

King of the Mountains Gino Mader (Bahrain Victorious)

Best Young Rider Attila Valter (Groupama-FDJ)

For full race reviews, go to cyclingnews.

Official race website: Giro d’Italia

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