Vuelta a España stage 8 LIVE: Early crash sees multiple riders abandon

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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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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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