PREVIEW & FAVOURITES | Vuelta a España 2025 stage 8 - Mads Pedersen and Jasper Philipsen battle for sprint victory

Stage 8 of the Vuelta a Espana is a day for the sprinters, one of the last in the race actually, but one that will be very hard to prevent. Ending in Zaragoza, we preview a flat stage in which Jasper Philipsen and Mads Pedersen will be the main favourites.

Aragonese stage of rest for those in the general classification, although it is sure to be very tense because it is one of the few pure opportunities that the sprinters will have to get a win in the streets of Zaragoza. It's a transition day without any categorized climb on the menu, nothing but flat roads in what should be very exposed and hot roads.

The finale in Zaragoza will also not be technical, hence not tactical. The riders will enter the final straight with around 1 kilometer to go but it's a gentle turn, and then the final kilometer will unusually also be in this slight left-leaning straight, one which is flat however.

Some western wind early on, turning into northern later in the day. So, a headwind to start the stage and then somewhat of a tailwind in the final section of the stage before entering the city. It won't affect the outcome of the stage, likely. The riders will go into the heat, back into 30-degree terrain.

Jasper Philipsen - Philipsen will be the man to beat but this is because of the lack of competition. We've been able to see that Alpecin have the best leadout and in the only pure sprint so far Philipsen was head and shoulders above the rest - in Pedersen's absence. The thing is Lidl-Trek don't have a leadout to enter the sprint in front of the Belgians, and Philipsen will in any scenario be hard to beat as he is good at positioning himself as well.

Mads Pedersen - The Dane is not having his race so far, he had good form before the Vuelta but he has thus far not been able to win a stage despite having three opportunities. In the pure sprints he's definitely not as sharp, but he will always be a card to consider. The question is if he can enter the sprint in the right position. If yes, he may be able to win the stage. If it's the same as in stages 1 and 3, then it'll be a no-show.

This is not a stage where you can really have a breakaway take the win, unless the peloton completely miscalculates and fumbles a clear and easy chance to control things to their own advantage. But the thing is that even lacking their best form, both Philipsen (specially) and Pedersen are above the rest of the competition. You could have Casper van Uden and Ethan Vernon as potential win candidates, if something is to go wrong with the two main favourites.

We've had Ben Turner win a stage already, he certainly isn't a pure sprint but we can absolutely expect him to be up there, specially with Filippo Ganna as a leadout man. Orluis Aular, Arne Marit, Elia Viviani, Madis Mihkels, Thibau Gruel and Cofidis duo Bryan Coquard and Stanislaw Aniolkowski are other sprinters who will want to be present.

*** Jasper Philipsen
** Mads Pedersen, Ethan Vernon
* Orluis Aular, Ben Turner, Casper van Uden, Stanislaw Aniolkowski, Arne Marit, Elia Viviani, Madis Mihkels

Pick: Jasper Philipsen

How: Regular bunch sprint.