From attic to the outdoors.
From Alpe du Zwift to Collau Fancuaya.
Jay Vine (Alpecin-Deceuninck) conquered the Vuelta a Espana yet again to add Stage 8 and the polka dots to his palmares, and dispelling the likes of Marc Soler (UAE Team Emirates) and Thibaut Pinot (A Goat Farm in France). Behind the break a promised general classification throw down failed to materialize, as Remco ‘The Brick’ Evenepoel (Quick Step Alpha Vinyl) maintained his grasp on the red jersey.
Vine’s Storm
Despite his success, the Vuelta really seems not to like Jay Vine. On Thursday, his victory was quite literally clouded in secrecy, with no one able to visibly see him cross the finish. Today, the race taunted him again with mist and fog. To make matters worse, a power outage knocked out the footage in the finale!
The Vuelta doesn’t like showing Jay Vine doing well does it
— Journal Velo (@JournalVelo) August 27, 2022
No power cut for Jay Vine. He was on Mitch Docker’s podcast the other day talking about Strava and think he said his ideal climbs are 20-30 minutes, so interested to see how he does on the longer Pandera and Sierra Nevada climbs next weekend
— the Inner Ring (@inrng) August 27, 2022
Thank goodness, they managed to pull together some footage of the final kilometre.
⏪⚔️ Revive la batalla del ÚLTIMO KM en Colláu Fancuaya gracias a @CarrefourES. ¡@JayVine3 🫣!
🏔️ Take in the final KM of Colláu Fancuaya once more thanks to @CarrefourES.
#CarrefourConLaVuelta pic.twitter.com/4Qm9gZLGPN— La Vuelta (@lavuelta) August 27, 2022
JAY VINE ENGAGES POLKA DOT BEAST MODE 🤩What a streak of form this guy is on! #LaVuelta22
— Katy M (@writebikerepeat) August 27, 2022
And voila, we were able to see him cross the finish line this time!
The new ultra-mythica climber, made by Zwift. #LaVuelta22 pic.twitter.com/mt1NnIS1D8
— Mihai Simion (@faustocoppi60) August 27, 2022
"I got that monkey off my back… and today was SUCH a fun day." Jay Vine talks winning his second stage in three days 🤯🔥 pic.twitter.com/ocWdMmZlk3
— Eurosport (@eurosport) August 27, 2022
Me to Jay Vine this morning: ‘What’s the best thing about being a Grand Tour stage winner?’
Him: ‘The bonus.’#realtalk
— Daniel Friebe (@friebos) August 27, 2022
The GC Battle
If there were a worthy general classification battle, I would write about it here. Alas, there is nothing much worth noting.
Remco, Rogla, Enric Mas and Carlos Rodriguez! They are the strongest today, let's see if Remco can drop them again. #LaVuelta22 pic.twitter.com/ZHkDYyOWSc
— Mihai Simion (@faustocoppi60) August 27, 2022
All Hail Thibaut Pinot!
He doesn’t always deliver. He didn’t today. And yet, we do love a bit of Thibaut love around these parts. So, let’s give it up for The Goat Farmer of France.
Jay Vine denying us a Thibaut Pinot victory just because he wants a stage victory with a photo?!? Rude.
(Joke)
— Vuelta a Robyn (will use caps) (@robynjournalist) August 27, 2022
He’s a bit like Shaggy from Scooby-Doo with that beard of his. . .
— Équipe Cycliste Groupama-FDJ (@GroupamaFDJ) August 27, 2022
Alas, he only managed 4th place – classic Pinot.
Thibaut Pinot prend la 4e place au Colláu Fancuaya. Le succès est revenu à Jay Vine. pic.twitter.com/QxsnEXNnWK
— Équipe Cycliste Groupama-FDJ (@GroupamaFDJ) August 27, 2022
Hip Hip, Hooray! Three Cheers for Mads
You know who we (well, some of us) love more than Thibaut Pinot? You guessed it – Mads Pedersen! The Danish hunk is on the hunt for the Vuelta’s green jersey, much to the disdain of Sam Bennett. Reminiscent of a young Peter Sagan or a modern day Wout Van Aert, Mads looks determined to snatch up points classification success by doing it the hard way.
Mads on the move on #LaVuelta22 stage 8 💪 pic.twitter.com/HiLpHDM9Gm
— Trek-Segafredo (@TrekSegafredo) August 27, 2022
Mads Pedersen earning points for the sprinters Jersey the hard way today. On the last two climbs he has been pedalling with his shoulders. #LaVuelta22
— Michael Rasmussen (@MRasmussen1974) August 27, 2022
(It’s because he’s said he doesn’t want to race Worlds. . .)
Superb day out for Mads P. He has upped his game this season. Don't understand why he won't be at Worlds in this form, he could more than handle himself on the climb #LaVuelta22 #Wollongong2022
— Katy M (@writebikerepeat) August 27, 2022
By spending the day in the breakaway and holding on through the climbs until just after the intermediate sprint point, Mads claimed his victory by snatching the green jersey off the back of Mr. Bennett.
“It wasn’t easy!” They went really fast on the climbs and I had to put in a high pace today.”
Incredible @Mads__Pedersen climbs over five KOMs to get green.https://t.co/gk6Q20SOTi
— Trek-Segafredo (@TrekSegafredo) August 27, 2022
The Final Word
Finish line access is hard. Just not for Didi.
The @DeineTour is the only race where Didi gets an actual accreditation pic.twitter.com/LsW61Ow4nX
— Ned 🚲 Boulting (@nedboulting) August 27, 2022
Results
Stage 8 results
1 Jay Vine (Alpecin-Deceuninck) 4:05:25
2 Marc Soler (Because He’s Marc Soler) +0:43
3 Rein Taaramae (Intermarché – Wanty – Gobert Matériaux) +0:43
4 Thibaut Pinot (Groupama – FDJ) +0:47
5 Remco Evenepoel (Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl ) +1:20
GC Top 10
1 Remco Evenepoel (Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl ) 29:28:19
2 Enric Mas (Movistar) +0:28
3 Primož Roglic (Jumbo-Visma) +1:01
4 Carlos Rodriguez (INEOS Grenadiers) +1:47
5 Tao Geoghegan Hart (INEOS No One Knows How He Got Here) +1:54
6 Juan Ayuso (UAE Team Emirates) +2:02
7 Simon PHILLIP Yates (Team BikeExchange – Jayco) +2:05
8 João Almeida (UAE Team Emirates) +2:44
9 Jai Hindley (BORA – hansgrohe) +2:51
10 Ben O’Connor (AG2R Citroën Team) +2:59
All the Jerseys
Leader’s jersey : The Tactical Brick (QuickStep Alpha Vinyl)
Points jersey : Mads Pedersen (Trek Segafredo)
King of the Mountains jersey : Jay Vine (Alpecin-Deceuninck)
Young Rider Jersey : Remco Evenepoel (QuickStep Alpha Vinyl)
Team competition : UAE Team Emirates
For the full stage review, go to cyclingnews
Go here for the official La Vuelta website