The 2025 Vuelta a Espana continued Saturday with stage 8 – a 163.5-kilometer ride on a route from Monzon Templario to Zaragoza in the Aragon region of northeastern Spain. The ride will take the remaining riders in the Vuelta a Espana peloton down from a mountain plateau and the general classification favorites and climbing aces are expected to use the opportunity to rest their tired legs, while sprinters such as Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek), Orluis Aular (Movistar Team) and Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck) battle for a stage victory in a mass sprint finish.

Stage 8 started in Monzon Templario and it did not take long before riders started launching breakaway attempts. Joan Bou (Caja Rural Serguros RGA), Sergio Samitier (Cofidis Team) and Jose Luis Faura (Burgos Burpellet BH) formed a viable gap and set out on a mission with the apparently impossible objective of keeping the hungry sprinters at bay all the way to the finish line in Zaragoza.

The front trio had been allowed to form a lead of approximately four minutes after thirty kilometers of racing. 135 kilometers of the stage remained and Alpecin-Deceuninck and other sprinter teams were controlling the action in the front part of the main peloton.

Team PremierTech had joined the chase work at the front of the main peloton with 120 kilometers to the finish line. Alpecin-Deceuninck riders were still leading the chase, while riders from Bahrain-Victorious were monitoring the situation in support of their general classification leader Torstein Traen.

The racing action in stage 8 did not cause much excitement for the spectators at home and along the route. The front trio was still in the lead with seventy-five kilometers to the finish line. They now had a lead of 03:15 minutes.

Samitier won the intermediate sprint in Penaflor from the breakaway, while Mads Pedersen secured the 13 points that were available in the battle between the fastest riders in the main peloton.

Twenty-five kilometers remained of stage eight, and the stretched-out peloton had reduced the advantage of the breakaway trio to less than half a minute. The sprint-focused teams in the main peloton were slowly starting to prepare for the much-anticipated mass sprint finish of the stage.

The main peloton reeled in the three breakaway optimists with seventeen kilometers to the finish line. 

Five kilometers remained and the sprinter teams were now setting up their sprinters and preparing their lead-out trains for the stage finale and a possible sprint royale. 

Riders from Team Picnic-PostNL, Intermarche-Wanty and Alpecin-Deceuninck were at the front of the peloton. The speed was intense. Lotto-Caps riders joined the hard work as did Lidl-Trek fast men. Team Ineos-Grenadiers-TotalEnergies moved to the front for Ben Turner.

The peloton reached the final kilometer. Lotto-Caps launched their lead-out train as did Alpecin-Deceuninck. Elia Viviani launched his sprint and almost won the stage, but it was Jasper Philipsen who proved the fastest man in Zaragoza. Jasper Philipsen has won stage 8 of Vuelta a Espana for Team Alpecin-Deceuninck. Elia Viviani finished second for Lotto-Caps, while Ethan Vernon completed the stage podium. Bryan Coquard finished sixth, Ben Turner finished tenth, while Mads Pedersen finished eleventh.

“I managed to win the stage, so I am really happy,” stage winner Jasper Philipsen explained to Roadcycling.com after the stage. “Things were difficult today. Every grand tour win is a special one and it is never easy. It is going to be a tough Vuelta, but two stage wins makes it a bit easier for me,” Philipsen continued.

Norway’s Torstein Traen remains general classification leader following today’s stage and will continue to wear the red jersey for Bahrain-Victorious in tomorrow’s stage.

Sunday’s stage 9 of Vuelta a Espana 2025 will invite the cyclists in the Vuelta a Espana to a battle in hilly and mountainous terrain. The riders will start the 195.5-kilometer stage in Alfaro, race through hilly terrain, before reaching the Category 1 climb, which will take the riders to the finish line at Estacion de Esqui de Valdezcaray. The general classification favorites are expected to battle for a stage victory while trying to gain time on their competitors in the GC.

While Joao Almeida and UAE Team Emirates have shown attacking initiative, Vuelta race favorite Jonas Vingegaard has delivered a lukewarm and reluctant performance this far – as he did in the Tour de France – and it remains to be seen if he will take on a more aggressive and courageous riding style in stage 9 and coming stages or wait all the way till the Vuelta draws to a close in the streets of Madrid.

Stay tuned to Roadcycling.com for complete coverage from the 2025 Vuelta a Espana.