Vuelta, Sprint by Philipsen, Traeen remains in the red jersey

Sprint was supposed to be, and Sprint was. In Saragozza in the eighth stage of Vuelta the Belgian specialist of the Alpecin-deceunnk Jasper Philipsen imposed himself who reassembled and burned Elia Viviani conquering his second success in this lap of Spain after the triumphal of Novara at the opening. The Belgian had also won the first stage of the Tour in Lilla except then be forced to retire from a fall in the third fraction.

The sprint

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Complicated Sprint for Philipsen who lost the train of Planckaert, he put himself up in Cocard and in the confused and whirling comeback he also had to reject the closure of Elia Viviani by throwing himself to the left of the road, very close to the barriers. The success also launches the Belgian in the points ranking: Philipsen is third at 105 points, 3 less than the English of Israel Ethan Vernon, EA -12 by the leader Mads Pedersen, Ciccone’s teammate in the Lidl -Trek.

Hot and calm

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The hottest day, 32 degrees, the slowest day, with the group at 38 on average for most of the 163 kilometers of the stage that started by Monzon Templario. Wind in the face slowing down the march, and when the breeze passed on the side it did not blow strong enough to create the expected and feared fans.

Escape

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Immediately an escape with three Spaniards, Joan Bou (Caja Rural), Sergio Samitier (Cofidis) and José Luis Faura (Burgos). Via a breath after departure, maximum advantage of 3’20 “and end of the day of the day at 17 from the end (for Faura to -25), after 145 kilometers spent in front of the group, which recovered thanks above all to the work of the Alpecin-Deceunnink, Lidl-Trek and Israel who worked for Philipsen, the Green Pedersen and Vernon jersey. The day of Bahrain is less expensive. Victorious, the team of the leader Thorstein Traeen who arrives 3 days in the red jersey.

Tomorrow you go up

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Tomorrow the first week of running closes with a new stage with arrival in the mountains, from Alfaro to the 1523 meters of the Valdezcaray ski resort in Rioja, a land of large wines rather than large mountains. It is the third longest fraction of this Vuelta, 195.5 kilometers wavy with 3311 meters in altitude, and seems suitable for an escape. The final climb is 13 kilometers and is hard initially but brings a lot in the final. Then there will be the day of rest in Pamplona.