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2015 Giro d’Italia Stage 8: Beñat Intxausti takes summit victory, Contador retains lead

May 16, 2015
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Movistar’s Beñat Intxausti took his second career Giro d’Italia stage win Saturday atop a Cat. 1 ascent. Intxausti first won in 2013 on Stage 16. Fabio Aru (Italy/Astana) and Richie Porte (Australia/Sky) could not dislodge Alberto Contador (Spain/Tinkoff-Saxo) from the top of the GC.

Stage 8 rain started in rain and chill, but the action was hot straight off the bat. It took a couple of tries for a breakaway to form, and Astana put Contador under pressure early, dropping the pink jersey. Contador not only got back on but he also managed to pick up two seconds at the intermediate sprint.

A 12-man escape soon found itself fragmenting on the very long (26-km) but mildly graded (5%) Cat. 2 ascent of Forca d’Acero. Steven Kruijswijk (The Netherlands/LottoNL-Jumbo) jetted up the road and grabbed the maximum mountains points. On the subsequent ripples the Dutchman found Carlos Betancur (Colombia/Ag2r), Franco Pellizotti (Italy/Androni Giocatolli) and later Kristoff Vandewalle (Belgium/Trek) as his companions. The remainders of the early breakaway created a chase of 8-riders, and with 70-km remaining it was a minute behind and the peloton 8-minutes behind that.

In light rain the race was heading towards the first big gravity battleground, the 13-km, 6.9% Campitello Matese, where Gilberto Simoni last won in 2002. On the flatter roads, the discordant chase nosed closer to the escape. One chaser who wanted to keep a gap back to the peloton intact was Lampre’s Pole Przemyslaw Niemiec, best placed on GC at 5:10 in arrears of Contador. Nippo-Vini Fantini irked and confused the peloton by bossing the front.

Pellizotti dropped back to the chase, reckoning that the junction would soon be made, but it never did. Astana and Tinkoff-Saxo assumed the pace-making at the front of the peloton as the course dried out, but with the break 12-km away from the climb, Astana took over and pressed the accelerator.

When the intrepid trio hit the foot of the climb it had 1:30 over the chase and 5:00 over the peloton. Astana disappeared from the front of the favourites group. The chase was in no-man’s land, fading farther back from the leading fugitives. Betancur attacked but Kruijswijk caught the Colombian’s wheel and went past him.

Astana grabbed the reins again, whittling the peloton down to 55-riders–including Ryder Hesjedal–as it hit the 10-km to go mark. The closest chasers became Intxausti and Sebastian Reichenbach (Switzerland/IAM), who rolled by Betancur and Vandewalle. With 5-km to go the Dutchman had only 2:20 over the rampaging peloton. Intxausti had difficulty hanging onto Reichenbach.

Aru attacked first. His rivals were able to match him. Aru’s teammate Mikel Landa (Spain) whipped up the road. Intxausti and Reichenbach bridged to Kruijswijk with 4-km to go and then dispatched the Dutchman. Only a half-kilometre later Intxausti made his winning move. The favourites settled into a group of a dozen-riders with Sky controlling the pace.

Landa became Intxausti’s nearest chaser. Back in the favourites group, the 2004 Giro winner Damiano Cunego (Italy/Nippo-Vini Fantini) bolted, but Aru’s next attack brought him back. Richie Porte (Australia/Sky) was the next to try to unhitch Contador, but he couldn’t.

Intxausti had plenty of time to celebrate his second Giro win, while Landa came second and moved up to fifth on general classification. Intxausti and Landa are now one-two in the mountains competition.

Aru was the best out of the favourites but there were no time bonuses left at the line.

Ryder Hesjedal placed 18th on the day, 1:11 behind Intxausti, rising from 29th to 22nd on GC.

Sunday’s stage is the last before the first rest day. It’s another mountain stage with two Cat. 2’s and a Cat. 1 but with a slight rise to the finish in San Georgio del Sannio.

2015 Giro d’Italia Stage 8
1) Beñat Intxausti (Spain/Movistar) 4:51:34
2) Mikel Landa (Astana/Spain) +0:20
3) Sebastian Reichenbach (Switzerland/IAM) +0:31
18) Ryder Hesjedal (Canada/Cannondale-Garmin) +1:11
140) Hugo Houle (Canada/Ag2r) +19:48

2015 Giro d’Italia GC
1) Alberto Contador (Spain/Tinkoff-Saxo) 32:40:07
2) Fabio Aru (Italy/Astana) +0:04
3) Richie Porte (Australia/Sky) +0:22
22) Ryder Hesjedal (Canada/Cannondale-Garmin) +6:49
101) Hugo Houle (Canada/Ag2r) +1:14:44