"It was a good option to go for the win today" - Tadej Pogacar's win was close to certain in teammate Vegard Stake Laengen's mind

Tadej Pogacar didn't enter stage 8 of the Giro d'Italia thinking much about the win, as he had already two stages in the bag, but UAE Team Emirates teammates encouraged him to do so and chased a strong breakaway to make it possible. Teammate Vegard Stake Laengen explains the process behind stage 8's decision.

"Today we did great work together again. It was tough for me today, especially on the first categorized climb of the day," Laengen said in an interview with Eurosport. "I had some trouble there. But we came back. I did some good work there too, together with Mikkel Bjerg." The two put on a strong chase throughout a lot of the day, having decided with the team that they would try to go for the stage win.

Tadej Pogacar had won two stages, but none ere a road stage where he was with the pink jersey. The team knew that in the case of the breakaway being caught, it would be very difficult for anyone to beat the Slovenian. Hence the chase was on throughout the whole day and ultimately the outcome of the day came from a sprint between the GC favourites where Pogacar easily wiped out the competition.

"It was a fantastic day for our team. More or less, yes. If there had been a massive attack from the competitors, protecting the jersey was an important goal. But in the end, yes, it was a good option to go for the win today," Laengen assures after having been one of the riders who decided to switch the plan during the day.