Vuelta a España stage 8 LIVE: Lone breakaway rider leads the race on approach to key climb of the day

Sinuhé Fernández might not be out in front for much longer at this rate. His lead over the peloton has dropped to only just over a minute, although the chase may slow down if the peloton is reluctant to make the catch to early – the sprinters’ teams wont want to leave themselves exposed to attacks on the upcoming Puerto de Barx.

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Another rider to look out for today is Red Bull-Bora Hansgrohe’s Jordi Meeus. He’s one of the few riders in the peloton who can rival Brennan for pure speed, and managed to survive the climb on stage five that put paid to so many other sprinters’ hopes. He was second that day, and will be eager to go one better having not won a race for almost three months.

2026-08-29T14:29:36.630Z

Who will sprint for Netcompany Ineos today? Axel Laurance is looking in good form, with a 5th and 8th finish to his name already this week, but also have Ben Turner as an option, who has a bunch sprint stage win at the Vuelta on his palmares from last year. It’s a tricky choice for the team, and both riders are capable climbers who will fancy their chances of surviving the climb.

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2026-08-29T14:19:22.829Z

While we assume Kruijswijk is working for his Visma teammate Matthew Brennan, the team also have another potential option for the day in Wout van Aert. The Belgian was in the break yesterday and came close to winning the stage, and as a result is wearing the green jersey, leading the points classification ahead of Tadej Pogačar by two points

That’s a slender lead, and one he’ll surely want to defend – but that’ll be hard if he’s working to try and set Brennan up for a win.

The gap continues to come down, with now just under two minutes separating Fernández and the peloton, still being led by Kruijswijk. The Dutchman does have a posse of Alpecin riders right behind him, ready to try and set Groves up for the win

2026-08-29T14:03:45.655Z

An interesting development at the front of the peloton, as Steven Kruijswijk pulls off briefly from the front to take a comfort break, and Alpecin-Deceuninck briefly take over from him. Kruijswijk is back on the front again now, but that’s still a hint that Alpecin fancy their chances for the win today with Kaden Groves, despite the Australian’s lack of form and failure to get into the mix on the previous sprint stages at this Vuelta.

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2026-08-29T13:57:38.460Z

Still it’s Steven Kruijswijk leading the peloton all by himself, and he’s brought the gap to Sinuhé Fernández down to 3:20. The terrain remains flat for a while longer yet, before things get interesting with the category three climb of Puerto de Barx.

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2026-08-29T13:42:42.941Z

Felix Gall, safely in the peloton. He was one of the big winner of yesterday’s stage, finishing the best of the rest behind…., and as a result moved up to fourth overall, just 11 seconds away from the podium. He’s unlikely to have a chance to gain that time today, but will tomorrow.

2026-08-29T13:35:36.813Z

Callum Thornley is on bidon duty for Red Bull-Bora Hansgrohe. There’s no sign that his leader Primož Roglič is suffering at all following his crash, but we’ll only know for sure when he’s tested on tomorrow’s mountain stage.

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2026-08-29T13:28:15.959Z

There was some speculation yesterday that Pogačar’s attack in the closing stages was motivated by anger, and the need to prove a point after being caught by Enric Mas the day before. But the Slovenian himself denied this, when talking to the media yesterday.

Steven Kruijswijk has been tasked with setting the pace at the front of the peloton for Visma-Lease a Bike, doing all the work by himself. He’s keeping the lone leader Fernández at five minutes, as Visma look to set Brennan up for another sprint win.

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More bad news to report, as Mattia Gaffuri becomes the third rider of the day to abandon. He was one of the men to go down in the incident a few kilometres ago, and was clearly much worse off than Roglič.

2026-08-29T13:04:04.171Z

Roglič did indeed go down, as evidenced by a small rip in his jersey. He does appear to be riding comfortably, though, and is calmly making his way back towards the peloton.

A few riders have been held up and are making their way through the convoy back into the peloton. One of those riders is Primož Roglič – he appears unhurt, and it’s unclear for now whether he went down.

The pace has picked up a bit, but Fernández’s lead remains over five minutes.

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Visma are leading the peloton, but are a distant 5:30 behind Fernández. It’s been a subdued start to the stage.

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Unfortunately, there has been a second abandon as a consequence of the crash at the start of the day. NSN’s Floris Van Tricht had been making his Grand Tour debut, but finishes in unlucky fashion.

Fernández has been given a huge lead over the peloton, almost up to 6 minutes. The peloton is taking thins easy, though Visma have taken control of the pace-setting, presumably for their sprinter Matthew Brennan.

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We have had a first abandon as a result of the pre-flag crash, and it’s Kern Pharma’s climber Diego Uriarte. That’s a shame as he has been lively at this Vuelta, getting into the break on multiple occasions already.

Here was a glimpse of the chaotic aftermath following that incident earlier in the day.

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This was the moment at the start of the day when Fernández attacked, ahead of a disinterested peloton He must surely have imagined he’d have so company when he made the move.

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The peloton has already eased up, and allowed Fernández a lead of almost two and a half minutes already. The anticipated battle to get into the break has not materialised; and you wouldn’t expect Fernández to have any chance fending off an entire peloton by himself.

2026-08-29T12:10:55.262Z

So far it’s Burgos Burpellet BH showing most intent. Their rider Sinuhé Fernández has a gap of one minute after attacking from the flag, while his teammate José Luis Faura attempted to join him, before dropping back into the peloton.

And they’re off! Everyone has regrouped and regathered themselves after the crash, and the race has at last began.

2026-08-29T11:59:12.556Z

The peloton are still behind the race car, as the start continues to be delayed as a result of the crash.

When things finally do kick off, expect a fierce battle for the break, on a day where their hopes of survival feel realistic.

2026-08-29T11:52:20.688Z

There was a crash in the neutralised zone, which has delayed the official start of the stage. But hopefully we will be racing any moment.

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The action is set to kick off any moment, but before it does, be sure to catch up with yesterday’s stage, the first at this year’s race to be won by the breakaway.

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The four jersey wearers at the start today – Onley, Pogačar, Van Aert and Leknessund.

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2026-08-29T11:33:00.368Z

The riders are off from the unofficial start, short of one rider who finished yesterday. Luca Van Boven has abandoned the race after his nasty crash yesterday.

Hello and welcome to stage 8 of the Vuelta a España