"I like to have pain in my legs, then they get stronger afterwards" - Stage 8 hero Jonas Abrahamsen speaks about his mantra

Jonas Abrahamsen was the hero of Saturday's stage 8 to Colombey-les-Deux-Eglises. After days with no breakaways at all, the Norwegian sacrificed his legs to provide viewers with a spectacle as he embarged on a nearly 150 km solo against the full peloton.

The Uno-X Mobility rider than describes how the situation was created in an interview with race organizers. "In the beginning I was hoping I could get in the breakaway to get some more points for the climbing competition. At first it was me and two from EF Education EasyPost so it was good, but on the climbs I had to pull all the time and they went behind back to the peloton."

Alone at the front, Abrahamsen never lost hope that maybe he'll slip through the fingers of sprinter teams and celebrate a massive triumph. "Then I was really just trying to give it full gas to try and get the victory. But I’m happy to get more points in the Mountain classification and the intermediate sprint and to be the most aggressive rider. I gave it my all today but I was not strong enough in the end. The legs are quite painful so hopefully I will recover well for tomorrow. I like to have pain in my legs, then they get stronger afterwards."

Thanks to his efforts, Abarahamsen will remain in the Polka dot jersey until at least the end of the first racing block, while he is also third in the points classification, although his deficit on leader Biniam Girmay is now over 100 points.