Stage 8
La Manga del Mar Menor
- Saturday 21 August 2021
- 174 km
- 923 m climbed
- Won by Fabio Jakobsen
The road
At the start
Flat again, and Valverde is gone
Alejandro Valverde slid off the road in the Alicante hills yesterday, climbed back up to it, then stopped and wept: at 41, his Vuelta is over. Hugh Carthy abandoned the same day, and four more with them. Roglič keeps red, though Großschartner is second at eight seconds. Today follows the Costa Blanca to La Manga with no categorised climb on it.
How it was won
- 69 km to go
Points for the green jersey
Bagüés leads the Basque trio across the intermediate; back in the bunch Philipsen takes thirteen points ahead of Démare to protect his lead.
- At the line
La Manga del Mar Menor
Sénéchal buries himself and pulls off early, leaving several sprinters committed too soon. Jakobsen jumps from eighth wheel into clear air at 200 metres and wins without being challenged.
The result
| Rank | Rider | Team | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Fabio Jakobsen | Deceuninck - Quick Step | 3:56:05 |
| 2 | Alberto Dainese | Team DSM | +0:00 |
| 3 | Jasper Philipsen | Alpecin - Fenix | +0:00 |
The route on real terrain, every moment pinned to the kilometre it happened on — and the GPX to ride it yourself.