Vuelta a Espana 2024 GC updater after stage 8 | Primoz Roglic takes serious time on Ben O'Connor; João Almeida's victory hopes explode

Stage 8 of the Vuelta a España didn't seem to be a horrible day for the climbers but it turned out to be the day that, so far, has created the biggest differences for the overall classification. Primoz Roglic hit Ben O'Connor hard and won almost a minute; whilst victory candidate João Almeida lost several minutes on the final climb.

Roglic won the stage ahead of Enric Mas who benefited the most from this short but explosive climb. Bonifications and time on the road saw Ben O'Connor lose 56 seconds to Primoz Roglic and the lead is down to 3:49 minutes. Enric Mas is third now, 4:31 away from the Australian. With consistent performances, Antonio Tiberi and Mikel Landa follow shortly behind.

Lennert van Eetvelt, Cristián Rodríguez, Mattias Skjelmose, Florian Lipowitz and Felix Gall wrap up the Top10 whilst João Almeida, formerly third in the standings, descended to 26th after losing 4:53 minutes in a 4-kilometer long climb. Pavel Sivakov, Aleksandr Vlasov and Clément Berthet also lost serious time on the final climb and lost several spots.