Stage 8 of the Giro d’Italia was made for the breakaway, and the expectations were met. In Castelraimondo, Luke Plapp took the victory, while Rémy Rochas, who managed to enter the right move after a long and hard fight at the start, couldn’t defend his chances until the end. In the bunch, David Gaudu reassured himself and took seventeenth place on the day. Sunday’s “Strade Bianche” stage should bring some action.
Everyone was warned. For a week now, the attackers have had their eyes on the eighth stage of the Giro d’Italia, and almost every team was willing to join the party from Giulianova to Castelraimondo, in the Marche region. As often in such circumstances, a continuous and grueling battle raged for many kilometres at the start. Groupama-FDJ first got in the mix with Kevin Geniets, then Lorenzo Germani and Quentin Pacher, but it was only after the day’s first classified climb, around kilometre 80, that Rémy Rochas was able to join the good move. “It was the day we expected, even if we thought it would have gone a bit earlier,” explained Thierry Bricaud. “Rémy felt the right moment to go for it. Unfortunately, he used a lot of energy beforehand and suddenly felt empty when the pace accelerated on the long climb, halfway through the race.” The Frenchman was therefore unable to play his card for long, and was then caught by the bunch before reaching the summit of Sassotetto.
“David had a decent day”, Thierry Bricaud
From then on, Groupama-FDJ gathered around David Gaudu in anticipation of the final, and the French leader managed to follow the favourites’ accelerations on the final climb of the day, seven kilometres from the finish. At the finish line, Luke Plapp took victory from the breakaway, while David Gaudu joined the peloton sprint to secure seventeenth place on the stage. “We have no regrets, because even if we had been in front longer, it would have been difficult to win the stage,” Thierry summarized. “There will be other opportunities. The good news today is that David had a decent day and didn’t feel his hand too much. It’s a good sign going forward. Tomorrow will be an unusual day, and we will try to stay around him because he is still in the running for the general classification and that is still the most important thing.” To conclude this first big week of racing on the Giro, the peloton will head towards Siena on Sunday, for the “Strade Bianche” stage which will include nearly thirty kilometres of “gravel” roads.
