Primoz Roglic begins to put things in their place in the 2024 Vuelta a España

The tough stage from two days ago left many doubts about the form of Primoz Roglic, doubts that the Slovenian has taken care of dispelling in the grueling finish in Sierra de Cazorla on a day that was not expected to be contested by the general classification riders as it took place on the eve of the first mountain stage of La Vuelta 2024. Enric Mas, on the defensive, now becomes the main rival of the Slovenian.

Reality check for Ben O'Connor at the finish line of the 8th stage of La Vuelta 2024 with a finish in Cazorla

We said before the start of La Vuelta a España 2024 that the medium mountains would play a fundamental role in the development of the race, but we could not imagine to what extent. If a couple of days ago it was Ben O'Connor who took advantage of this characteristic terrain of the Spanish geography, historically underutilized in the race routes, today it was Primoz Roglic who returned the favor after the short but tough climb to the Ermita de la Virgen de la Cabeza in the heart of the Sierra de Cazorla, which marked the end of a stage without a single flat meter that started in Úbeda and was raced at full speed.

Initially, everything pointed to this being a day for a breakaway considering that tomorrow awaits the tremendous stage of Sierra Nevada, one of the queen stages of La Vuelta 2024. In fact, there was a lot of racing with many cyclists trying to catch a breakaway that was not consolidating. It took more than 60 kilometers to form, almost half a stage, with a group of 8 riders finally consolidating with Sam Oomen, Oier Lakano, Mauro Schmid, Gijs Leemreize, Luca Vergallito, Mathis Le Verre, Ion Izagirre, and the best placed, Harold Tejada, who forced Decathlon-AG2R La Mondiale to work behind to prevent him from taking the lead.

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Take the curves like a professional

From this point on, the stage calmed down but with a constant back and forth between the peloton and the breakaway group, maintaining a lead of around four and a half minutes. However, there was understanding in the front group even on the climb to Alto del Mirador de las Palomas, which was crowned about 50 kilometers from the finish. A peace that ended during the descent where Mauro Schmid lit up the fireworks, but everything regrouped at the end where Oier Lazkano also tried after suffering during a technical descent to follow the wheel, perhaps influenced by the hard fall he had in the final part of yesterday's stage.

The situation changed in the peloton when Israel-PremierTech joined Decathlon-AG2R La Mondiale at the head of the group, causing the gap to the breakaway to start decreasing significantly, leading to attacks between the breakaway riders as they felt the breath of the peloton on their necks. Oier Lazkano, Harold Tejada, and Luca Vergallito stood out at the beginning of the final climb to Sierra de Cazorla, but at this point, it was already clear that they wouldn't make it.

As the climb started, Primoz Roglic took the lead, significantly increasing the pace and making an initial selection facilitated by a mishap in the tight corner that led to the start of the climb in the streets of the town of Cazorla. After that initial steep section, the Slovenian eased up a bit, causing a regrouping. Ben O'Connor initially managed to keep up, looking confident in the red jersey of La Vuelta 2024.

However, it was just an illusion. A second strong attack by Primoz Roglic made the Australian give way, who found invaluable help from his teammate Felix Gall but it was not enough to recover the lost ground, in fact, he started losing more than 40 seconds at the finish line.

Also affected by this initial attack was the leader of UAE Team Emirates Joao Almeida, who had been seen at the back of the peloton throughout the stage and was dropped from the group, losing all his chances in the general classification right from the start. He would lose almost 5 minutes at the finish.

Meanwhile, Enric Mas reaffirmed himself as the strongest rider after Roglic, easily following every change of pace by the Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe rider, with a determined Mikel Landa chasing a few meters behind, neither losing more ground nor managing to catch up to the front.

They arrived almost in parallel to the last few hundred meters, with terrifying gradients where Enric Mas, after just following the wheel, moved to the front trying to find the best position in the curves before the finish line. He almost pulled it off, but a skillful Primoz Roglic found the gap at the right moment to use his sprinting ability and easily and deservedly claimed his second stage win in La Vuelta 2024, also dealing a psychological blow to Ben O'Connor who, despite the setback, still holds the red jersey with a comfortable lead.

Stage 8 Classification

1. Primoz Roglic (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe) 3h38'34''
2. Enric Mas (Movistar Team) +00''
3. Mikel Landa (TRex-QuickStep) +14''
4. Antonio Tiberi (Bahrain-Victorious) +17''
5. Mattias Skjelmose +21''
6. Carlos Rodríguez (INEOS Grenadiers) +21''
7. Harold Tejada (Astana) +24''
8. Eddie Dunbar (Jayco-AlUla) +26''
9. Lennert Van Eetvelt (Lotto-Dstny) +29''
10. Jack Haig (Bahrain-Victorious) +29''

General Classification

1. Ben O'Connor (Decathlon-AG2R La Mondiale) 31h23'27''
2. Primoz Roglic (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe) +3'49''
3. Enric Mas (Movistar Team) +4'31''
4. Antonio Tiberi (Bahrain Victorious) +5'00''
5. Mikel Landa (TRex-QuickStep) +5'13''
6. Lennert Van Eetvelt (Lotto-Dstny) +5'15''
7. Cristian Rodríguez (Arkéa-B&B Hotels) +5'19''
8. Mattias Skjelmose (Lidl-Trek) +5'24''
9. Florian Lipowitz (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe) +5'25''
10. Felix Gall (Decathlon-AG2R La Mondiale) +5'26''