Watch: Vuelta a España stage 8 highlights

The eighth stage of the Vuelta a España saw the riders tackle a tough 165km route, culminating up the savage Xorret de Catí climb before a short drop down to the finish.

A breakaway of 30 riders went up the road, including Bauke Mollema (Lidl-Trek), Thomas De Gendt (Lotto Dstny), Damiano Caruso (Bahrain-Victorious), Rui Costa (Intermarché-Circus-Wanty) and Romain Bardet (dsm-firmenich).

With 100km to go, De Gendt went off on a solo break with a few riders jumping across to join him after around 40km off the front on his own. De Gendt eventually dropped back and four riders kept going at the front of the race. The peloton behind were keeping an eye on things however and it became apparent that the GC men would be taking the stage win, with the pace being controlled by Jumbo-Visma.

Red jersey wearer Lenny Martinez (Groupama-FDJ) quickly dropped away on the final climb, leaving Sepp Kuss (Jumbo-Visma) to take the virtual race lead. The three Jumbo-Visma riders, Primoż Roglič, Jonas Vingegaard and Kuss worked together to try and distance Remco Evenepoel (Soudal Quick-Step), but the Belgian was able to close any gaps.

Eight riders reached the top together and in the fight for the sprint after a quick downhill, it was Roglič who emerged victorious, beating Evenepoel and Juan Ayuso (UAE Team Emirates). Sepp Kuss now leads the GC over Marc Soler (UAE Team Emirates), who sits 43 seconds down.

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