Giro d’Italia 2022 : Stage 8 – Bearded Belgian De Gendt Wins, Lopez Holds On For Another Day

Welcome to VeloVoices’ Stage 8 recap, powered by Vanilla Coca Cola, COVID-19, and Fever Dreams of Extra Thick Milkshakes. In what can only be described as an ultimate showing of power, talent, and general beardedness, Lotto-Soudal’s Thomas De Gendt took his second-ever Giro d’Italia stage win out of a small breakaway group. After nearly single-handedly pulling his companions clear of an eager chase group that featured Alpecin-Fenix’s Mathieu Van der Poel and Bini Girmay (Wanty-Intermarche), De Gendt crossed the line ahead of Davide Gabburo (Bardiani-CSF-Faizanè) and Jorge Arcas (Movistar). Harm Vanhoucke, De Gendt’s teammate, finished fourth, arms raised in celebration.

There was no change of the jerseys and very little change in the GC, other than Mr. Guillaume “Philosopher” Martin catapulting himself 24 places up to fourth overall after a day in the breakaway, cutting his deficit of 4.06 at the start of the stage by 3 full minutes. Trek’s Juan Pedro Lopez maintains the maglia rosa for at least one more day.

My Beloved, The Bearded Belgian

Say what you will about Thomas De Gendt. Sure, sometimes he fails to come off as the best team player, often sitting at the tail end of the peloton when not working for himself. But when he does his thing, it’s hard to say anything bad about him.

🎤 @DeGendtThomas: " We forged a bit of an advantage and I was working for @Harm_VH so he could attack on the climb but, at the end, he said we should switch roles"

Powered by @eolo_it @Lotto_Soudal #Giro pic.twitter.com/auAy4hIZpY

— Giro d'Italia (@giroditalia) May 14, 2022

The initial plan being to set up Vanhoucke, De Gendt rode selflessly inside the closing 30 kilometers, taking one massive pull after another to keep the likes of van der Poel and Girmay at bay. As the kilometers ticked by, it became more evident that he was the strongest in the group, yet comfortable to play the role of a sacrificial lamb nonetheless.

All was rewarded in the end, however, as Vanhoucke acknowledged he wouldn’t have the ability to outfox Gabburo and Arcas. In a stunning turn of events, Vanhoucke took to the front in the finale to ensure the fast-approaching chasers wouldn’t get back on. In the kick for the line, De Gendt quickly opened an impressive gap of several bike lengths, granting himself the time to sit up and savor his well-earned victory.

What it means for @DeGendtThomas!

📸 Photo News pic.twitter.com/vnmiadCsxx

— Lotto Soudal (@Lotto_Soudal) May 14, 2022

The celebration, only his second ever at the Giro, comes 10 years after he took the race by storm to win solo atop the Stelvio and finished third overall, behind Ryder Hesjedal and Joaquim Rodríguez. Good news for Lotto-Soudal, as well. With Caleb Ewan having bad Giro luck and a lack of wins in the spring classics, the team could very well be up for relegation at the end of the season if their record doesn’t get better. Let’s hope this is a start to more winning ways.

Here are your stage highlights:

Van der Poel v Girmay

I begrudgingly say this, as I don’t much care for van der Poel, but the battle between him and Girmay has easily been the most engaging and entertaining of this opening week. With a stage profile that looks like it was taken straight from the Ardennes Classics, today opened a magnificent opportunity for the two superstars to battle it out in the breakaway. And boy, did they.

Well, kind of. . .

Although both men infiltrated the day’s large breakaway and appeared to be dead-on favorites for the win, neither could quite find the right formula to cross the line first. Mathieu tried his damnedest, though. . .

Some crazy pulls by Mathieu today in the front, he doesn't feel the chain. Keeping in mind that he attacked from the gun, he knows that it's his day today, imo. I think he can lose this stage only if does a tactical mistake. #Giro

— Mihai Simion (@faustocoppi60) May 14, 2022

It was just that – a tactical mistake – that caused both of their downfall. Mathieu launched a wickedly brutal attack out of the breakaway with 40 kilometers to go, bringing Girmay and a handful of others with him, but was caught soon thereafter by the likes of De Gendt, Vanhoucke, Gabburo, and Arcas. When the quartet counter-attacked over the top of them, neither MvdP or Girmay had the legs to respond.

Here’s where the tactical error arrives: as De Gendt powered the group away, those left behind quickly became disorganised and allowed the gap to swell to 30 seconds, then 45 seconds, essentially watching their chance at victory vanish up the road. While the duo had a ferocious ride in the finale, at one point bringing the gap to the leaders as low as 9 seconds in the final two kilometers, there was nothing they could do to outmatch those up front.

Imagine that. Mathieu van der Poel outridden, out-tacticked, and overpowered by none other than Thomas de Gendt. Ha!

Grand Tour debutant @GrmayeBiniam 🇪🇷 earned his 5th top 5 in eight days 🤯 #Giro

📸 @cyclingmedia_ag pic.twitter.com/TAhLiI7wYm

— Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert (@IntermarcheWG) May 14, 2022

We ought to give a tremendous round of applause to Bini, however. After what can only be described as a historic Classics campaign, the young man is in his first grand tour and has racked up FIVE top-five finishes in the first eight stages. Good on ya, Biniam, we love you!

The Philosopher’s Ponder

One does have to wonder about Guillaume Martin. Credit to him, he’s relatively predictable in grand tours and seems to have found the secret formula for consistently finishing these three week stage races in the top 10. But is spending excessive energy in the breakaway the day before a day of massive climbing that is sure to shake up the general classification really the best idea? Well, that’s one for the philosophers to ponder. Which is what Guillaume is, I guess.

Quelle étape !🔥@GuilmMartin remonte 4e au classement général à 1'06 du maillot rose🙌

Place maintenant à la récupération pour l'étape de demain⛰️

📸@GettySport pic.twitter.com/Yfh9qz0IKh

— Team Cofidis (@TeamCOFIDIS) May 14, 2022

What happens to him tomorrow remains to be seen, but he does deserve a heartfelt chapeau for his efforts today. After all, he did successfully catapult himself up to fourth overall in the general classification, pushing Romain Bardet out of the top 10 (for now). While I’m not holding my breath for him to do something spectacular again tomorrow, he does seem to be quite good at this bike racing thing.

Yes Guillaume Martin spent a lot of energy in the break today but it would have been a nervous, stressful day fighting for position all day in the peloton. Interested to see how he pulls up for tomorrow.

— Dan Martin (@DanMartin86) May 14, 2022