Vuelta a Espana | Primoz Roglic wins stage 8 in Cazorla as Ben O'Connor and João Almeida crack
Cycling
Stage 8 of the Vuelta a España saw an exciting GC fight for the stage win in the SIerra di Cazorla. Primoz Roglic attacked several times and won the stage against Enric Mas whilst Ben O'Connor cracked in the final kilometers and João Almeida lost minutes on a bad day.
A day where many expected to see a breakaway succeed, it led to a very fast start with an hour of racing at 50Km/h over rolling roads. It was difficult to create a breakaway but eventually it happened. Mauro Schmid, Oier Lazkano, Ion Izagirre, Harold Tejada, Sam Oomen, Luca Vergallito, Gijs Leemreize and Mathis Le Berre.
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It looked like the group would get away with the win easily until Israel - Premier Tech came to the front of the peloton. It didn't seem clear why the team has worked so much, but this time spent in the wind effectively removed several minutes from the gap and really made it hard for the front group to survive.
With 51 kilometers to go the action began in front with Mauro Schmid trying to stir things up, then Oier Lazkano doing the same... But with Israel's work in the front of the peloton they stopped attacking each and instead decided to work together to still have hopes of being able to do it.
On the penultimate hilltop we had Oier Lazkano, Harold Tejada and Luca Vergallito dropping the rest of the group, whilst the fight for positioning into the climb began. The peloton entered the climb at full speed, with a crash right at the base taking out Aleksandr Vlasov (but others affected). Primoz Roglic attacked right in the very steep ramps at the base, but it then calmed down. João Almeida had been dropped whilst Jefferson Alexander Cepeda kept the pace high for Richard Carapaz.
With 2.5 kilometers to go Roglic attacked, followed by Enric Mas, but Felix Gall brought it back for O'Connor. With 1.9 to go he went once again with Mas joining over whilst O'Connor was struggling. The duo caught the front of the race.
Mas took the front of the group in the technical finale but Roglic had the superior explosivity and sprinted for the stage win ahead of the Movistar rider. Mikel Landa was third on the day.
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| 1 | ROGLIČ Primož | Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe | 3:38:34 |
| 2 | MAS Enric | Movistar Team | ,, |
| 3 | LANDA Mikel | Soudal Quick-Step | 0:14 |
| 4 | TIBERI Antonio | Bahrain - Victorious | 0:17 |
| 5 | SKJELMOSE Mattias | Lidl - Trek | 0:21 |
| 6 | RODRÍGUEZ Carlos | INEOS Grenadiers | ,, |
| 7 | TEJADA Harold | Astana Qazaqstan Team | 0:24 |
| 8 | DUNBAR Eddie | Team Jayco AlUla | 0:26 |
| 9 | VAN EETVELT Lennert | Lotto Dstny | 0:29 |
| 10 | HAIG Jack | Bahrain - Victorious | ,, |
| 11 | GALL Felix | Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team | 0:34 |
| 12 | VERGALLITO Luca | Alpecin - Deceuninck | 0:36 |
| 13 | LIPOWITZ Florian | Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe | ,, |
| 14 | CARAPAZ Richard | EF Education - EasyPost | 0:39 |
| 15 | RODRÍGUEZ Cristián | Arkéa - B&B Hotels | ,, |
| 16 | BENNETT George | Israel - Premier Tech | ,, |
| 17 | O'CONNOR Ben | Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team | 0:46 |
Rúben SilvaEditor-in-Chief
A founding contributor to CyclingUpToDate since its launch in January 2022, Ruben Silva has played a central role in shaping the site’s editorial direction and long-term growth. Before joining the project, he built his experience through independent blogging at Echelons Hub and by producing race previews for Ciclismo Internacional, developing a strong analytical voice rooted in daily engagement with professional cycling.
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Originally from the Porto metropolitan area in Portugal, he holds a bachelor’s degree in Geography. His path into cycling journalism was shaped not through formal media training, but through independent reporting, community engagement, and sustained on-the-ground involvement in the sport.
Over the course of his career, he has conducted approximately 100 interviews across road cycling and cyclocross, ranging from one-to-one conversations and online formats to press conferences and on-site pre- and post-race coverage. His interviews include leading riders, team managers, and prominent figures within cycling media: Tadej Pogacar, Jonas Vingegaard, Mathieu van der Poel, Primoz Roglic, Wout van Aert, Joao Almeida and Tom Pidcock; managers like Patrick Lefevere and Joxean Matxin; and YouTube personality Bryan Kennedy (BKXC)...
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- I hope he rides a bitmij15-11-2026
- Greatest athlete this world has ever produced ! LOL ... you definitely are a comdian ! Cycling is so sprecialized and you think he's the greatest athlete ever ! Still laughing !frieders315-11-2026
- b.s. headline. Jonas wasn't told anything, it is just a pundit telling him what to do. the actual article is not even close to the insinuation of the headline.mij15-11-2026
- I think Roglic could have beaten Sepp. not Jonas. I was referring to Sepp.mij15-11-2026
- I'm deeply sick of this guy and his unwillingness to race seriously for more than a month or two. I'll never respect riders who do that. Seixas will be stronger than him next season, and maybe Del Toro as well. I don't even think he'll finish on the podium at any GT where Pogi, Seixas, and Del Toro are racing.megasmacky15-11-2026
- Not a chance in hell.megasmacky15-11-2026
- If you go watch some races from last season other riders that have never caught Jonas...are now catching him. Some are just riding away from him and he can't hold the wheelmd197514-11-2026
- He just doesn't have the desire anymore. I read an article earlier today that said he almost retired last year. His reasoning was he is away from home to much. Visma was able to keep him riding by allowing him to skip certain camps. So, while currently Visma is doing altitude work...Jonas is at home. Which means 2 things. 1- He maybe fresher than other riders. But, not the condition. 2-Is a somewhat slap in the face to others on the team that are supposed to help him win. Yet feel like he hasn't done what they have so perhaps they don't provide as good of protection or they ride more for theme (which the team may not notice).md197514-11-2026
- Roglic could not have won anyway, after Jonas followed him when Roglic decided it was his turn for a stage win. Jonas had already attacked Kuss twice, so it was Jonas who was within seconds of taking the lead before Kuss was 'gifted' the win. It felt a bit like Roglic was being thrown under the bus when the team made his unhappiness public.Hills3314-11-2026
- POG1, another nice doc about our favourite, I watched most of it with a big smile on my face (except for the bits about his crashes 😢 obvs!).Lozza14-11-2026
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