[Laurens De Jong]

Hello, Vuelta a España Gamers!

 

STAGE Grade: C

 

I rate today’s stage a C. The lowest grade so far in the 2025 Vuelta a España. It could have been spectacular, almost nine out of ten times, but the wind was too feeble. No crosswind, no echelons, no action. The sprint was good. We’ll focus on that.

 

Route: 1/5         GC: 0/5             Tactics: 1/5       Sprint: 4/5         Surprises: 0/5

 

 

Jasper Disaster. Philipsen’s nickname, because of his kamikaze actions in bunch sprints. There was kamikaze today, but Philipsen wasn’t handing it out. It was a disaster of a sprint for Alpecin-Deceuninck. It’s the kind of disaster that tells us more about sprinting in a bunch than the best masterclass.

 

Alpecin-Deceuninck was not the dominating team in the final kilometers. Instead it was Lotto, leading out for the veritable Elia Viviani. Team JB were happy today. They came to the front, Viviani and three lead-out riders, with 3,900 meters to go. To be fair, I later counted four trains: Alpecin, Lotto, Intermarché-Wanty (for Arne Marit), and Israel-Premier Tech (for Ethan Vernon). But it was the Lotto team that had three riders in front of Viviani with only 1,400 meters to go. If you want to see a masterclass in sprint trains, Lotto was giving it.

 

With 400 meters to go, Lotto were launching their final lead-out rider for Viviani. Alec Segaert, the time trial specialist, had done what he is paid for. He handed off to Jasper de Buyst, the sprinter, to do his job. He was about to launch Viviani perfectly.

 

Next to Segaert and de Buyst was de Alpecin train. Edward Planckaert turning it over to Jonas Rickaert. But behind Rickaert, there was no Philipsen.

 

Disaster. For Philipsen. He had lost Rickaert’s wheel, who either didn’t know it, or didn’t care. He led out for a fading de Buyst, and then Viviani jumped out of his wheel, headed for victory. But no! That didn’t happen. Philipsen had found Viviani’s wheel.

 

Disaster. For Viviani. This is what they don’t teach you in sprint training. Philipsen was behind Bryan Coquard, who had also found himself without a sprint train. Coquard passed eight or nine riders, taking Philipsen with him. He had pulled up next to Viviani just as the Italian launched. In fact, Viviani launched because Coquard was there.

 

Philipsen found himself behind Coquard and Viviani, side by side. Naturally, he moved from Coquard’s wheel, who had been riding into the wind, to Viviani’s, who was fresh. Philipsen kicked a dozen pedal strokes on the eleven sprocket to get up to speed and then went around Viviani.

 

Disaster. Viviani, as they teach you in sprint training, was on his way to the barrier on the left. Philipsen was going to be squeezed out. If you find yourself between a barrier and a sprinter going 40+ mph, you end up in the emergency room. No doubt about it. Philipsen, however, kept sprinting. Going for that gap, the gap that almost didn’t exist.

 

They don’t teach you that in sprint training. If Philipsen lets up in this position, he’ll finish twelfth. He didn’t let up. He kept sprinting. Full of confidence and ambition and courage. Viviani left him just enough space, and Philipsen powered past and won the stage.

 

The same qualities that cause all those crashes around him resulted in a stage win today. Disaster or victory, there’s almost nothing separating those two. It can be impossible to tell a good sprinter from a dirty sprinter. They exist, dirty sprinters, I can name them and I will when it’s relevant. But I’ve never believed Philipsen is dirty. Uncompromising, yes. Talented, yes.

 

Ironically, both Viviani and Coquard were relegated. Viviani for putting Philipsen at risk and Coquard, who was basically following Viviani, for impeding Ben Turner. Behind them, a freewheeling Edward Planckaert closed the gap between himself and the barrier, obstructing Stanisław Aniołkowski. No action was taken, I think relegation was in order there as well. Although you can argue that Planckaert wasn’t sprinting, so he didn’t deviate from his line. Okay.

 

Well, then! That was about if from Stage 8. I watched it from the beginning and I have only two small observations.

 

The Spanish flats! Nearly every time I looked, the road was going up or down. It’s impossible to have a flat race in Spain. Even in Zaragoza proper, there was a quarter mile climb at 10%. Flat flat flat. Spanish flat.

 

“How do you pee?” is a question often asked of astronauts and cyclists alike. Cyclists have several options. When it’s raining, you just keep riding while you pee. Otherwise, the peloton often decides on “nature breaks,” where almost everyone pulls over and takes care of business. When the pace of the race is slow, as was the case today, you can take your chances. That’s what one of the Bahrain-Victorious riders did today. He was in the only echelon of the peloton, at the front. That’s where his team was controlling the race. One echelon, from left to right. A hundred and fifty riders behind him, all strung out in the gutter of the road. On the right.

 

If there is a strong crosswind, then those in the gutter will get dropped. But the pace was low, they could have casual conversations and still keep up. You don’t see that every day, only in races with low grades.

 

But okay, our rider needed a nature break. He pulled out of the echelon and went to the right. A rookie mistake! They teach you this in echelon training. Always pull off into the wind! He didn’t. Instead he pulled over to the side of the road, did what guys do when they have to pee. And a hundred and fifty riders behind him had to swerve out of and back into the gutter.

 

I was surprised nobody crashed. I’ll be shocked to find out that the veterans in the peloton didn’t chastise this rider upon his return.

 

Always pull off into the wind. Everybody knows that.

 

Jake Stewart was picked by Team Tadej*, unlike everyone else. Stewart is a good sprinter, and a decent one-day racer. He’ll win a race now and then. When the stars and the planets align. Nothing against Stewart. He won a stage in the Critérium du Dauphiné this year, beating Jonathan Milan and Mathieu van der Poel, for example. Sixth in that bizarre stage 20 in this year’s Tour de France, won by Kaden groves.

 

But why is Stewart here? To lead out for Ethan Vernon. If you pick Stewart but you leave out Vernon, then you’re predicting that Vernon will not finish stage 1, and Stewart will ride for his own chances.

 

That didn’t happen, and Stewart is racing for Vernon. Looking at Vernon’s results — second, fourth, second — Stewart is doing an ace job. And when you do an ace job as a lead-out man, you often end up in the top 25. Stewart was 24^th today, and nineteenth in stage 1. That’s a non-zero amount of points for Team Tadej!

 

Watch the final kilometer HERE.

Watch the official La Vuelta highlights HERE.

Watch the extended NBC Sports highlights HERE.  

Read the TNT Sports report HERE.

 

Team Samuel comes back for another sprint stage victory. Most points from the stage, most points overall, tied for most riders in the Top-25 (just three). They remain in ninth. Team Tadej, the other sprint team, were second, also with three riders in the Top-25. They jump to sixth in the standings now.

 

Five teams kind of huddled together: Team Hugo in third, Team Charles in fourth, Team Ansel in fifth, Team Josh in sixth, and Team Dominic in seventh. None of them made a move in the standings.

 

Team Sam were a bit back in eighth, they remain ninth. Then Team Amalia in ninth, dropping to eighth overall, and Team Grace were tenth, dropping them to seventh in the standings.

 

Three teams missed the boat today: Team Liz in eleventh, still good enough to get back to eleventh overall. And without sprinters, both Team Will and Team Sylvia were in twelfth and thirteenth, respectively, both in today’s results as in the standings.

 

Today’s stage was supposed to mess with the general classification with crosswinds, but that didn’t happen. Sunday’s stage is supposed to do the same with climbs, but I doubt that will happen, either. The computer still predicts Jonas Vingegaard, but we’ve seen this twice before now: Vingegaard will do as little as possible, as long as he doesn’t lose the Vuelta. Stage 9 is a summit finish, but too short to do damage. Tadej Pogačar would win that stage, but this year’s Vingegaard won’t try.

 

Therefore, the stage is there for a breakaway rider. One of dozens. Harold Tejada, maybe, or Juan Ayuso again. And I like Marco Frigo. Fitting, a rider named Frigo winning a stage that ends in a ski resort. But before you get all excited: among the seven ski lifts in Valdezcaray, none are interesting even to someone like me. The same happened in Ceres a couple of days ago, if you were wondering why all was quiet on the ski lift front: I rated the ski lifts in Ceres a D-.

 

Standings after stage 8:

Rank	Name	Points	WAS	MOVES
1	Team Hugo*	1376	1	0
2	Team Ansel*	1332	2	0
3	Team Charles*	1326	3	0
4	Team Dominic*	1285	4	0
5	Team Josh*	1254	5	0
6	Team Tadej*	1238	8	2
7	Team Grace*	1227	6	-1
8	Team Amalia*	1210	7	-1
9	Team Samuel*	1201	9	0
10	Team Sam*	932	10	0
11	Team Liz*	844	12	1
12	Team Will*	824	11	-1
13	Team Sylvia*	774	13	0

 

Standings after stage 8 (including adults):

 

Rank	Name	Points	WAS	MOVES
1	Team Kari	1396	1	0
2	Team Hugo*	1376	2	0
3	Team Craig	1357	4	1
4	Team Kent	1345	6	2
5	Team Feng	1343	5	0
6	Team Adam	1335	3	-3
7	Team Ansel*	1332	6	-1
8	Team Charles*	1326	8	0
9	Team Corsa	1315	9	0
10	Team Chuck	1292	10	0
11	Team Dominic*	1285	11	0
12	Team Mitchinson	1267	12	0
13	Team Amelia	1262	14	1
14	Team Josh*	1254	13	-1
15	Team Tadej*	1238	18	3
16	Team Laurens	1236	16	0
17	Team Grace*	1227	15	-2
18	Team Amalia*	1210	17	-1
19	Team Samuel*	1201	20	1
20	Team Rob	1177	21	1
21	Team Joe	1145	22	1
22	Team Corey	1135	19	-3
23	Team Wes	1110	23	0
24	Team John	1089	24	0
25	Team Jonwaine	1042	25	0
26	Team Julie	1032	26	0
27	Team Sam*	932	27	0
28	Team Liz*	844	30	2
29	Team Doug	828	31	2
30	Team JB	827	28	-2
31	Team Will*	824	28	-3
32	Team Sylvia*	774	32	0
33	Team Kate	382	33	0

 

Complete breakdown of points from stage 8:

Name	STAGE RESULTS	PINK JERSEY	PURPLE JERSEY	BLUE JERSEY	WHITE JERSEY	POINTS/CLASS	TOTAL	PREVIOUS	CUM. TOTAL
Team Amalia*	35	41	6	0	5	52	87	1123	1210
Team Ansel*	52	36	11	8	0	55	107	1225	1332
Team Charles*	52	39	11	3	5	58	110	1216	1326
Team Dominic*	52	34	11	3	5	53	105	1180	1285
Team Grace*	35	34	6	8	0	48	83	1144	1227
Team Hugo*	52	41	11	8	0	60	112	1264	1376
Team Josh*	52	35	11	8	0	54	106	1148	1254
Team Liz*	36	20	6	8	0	34	70	774	844
Team Sam*	52	22	9	8	0	39	91	841	932
Team Samuel*	82	27	13	5	0	45	127	1074	1201
Team Sylvia*	0	22	1	8	0	31	31	743	774
Team Tadej*	54	43	11	3	10	67	121	1117	1238
Team Will*	0	29	1	3	0	33	33	791	824

 

 

Complete breakdown of points from stage 8 (including adults):

 

Name	STAGE RESULTS	PINK JERSEY	PURPLE JERSEY	BLUE JERSEY	WHITE JERSEY	POINTS/CLASS	TOTAL	PREVIOUS	CUM. TOTAL
Team Adam	35	40	6	3	5	54	89	1246	1335
Team Amalia*	35	41	6	0	5	52	87	1123	1210
Team Amelia	52	41	11	8	5	65	117	1145	1262
Team Ansel*	52	36	11	8	0	55	107	1225	1332
Team Charles*	52	39	11	3	5	58	110	1216	1326
Team Chuck	52	37	9	8	5	59	111	1181	1292
Team Corey	0	35	3	8	1	47	47	1088	1135
Team Corsa	52	34	11	3	0	48	100	1215	1315
Team Craig	52	38	11	3	9	61	113	1244	1357
Team Dominic*	52	34	11	3	5	53	105	1180	1285
Team Doug	52	17	9	0	0	26	78	750	828
Team Feng	52	36	11	3	0	50	102	1241	1343
Team Grace*	35	34	6	8	0	48	83	1144	1227
Team Hugo*	52	41	11	8	0	60	112	1264	1376
Team JB	0	33	3	0	0	36	36	791	827
Team Joe	52	30	11	5	0	46	98	1047	1145
Team John	82	24	13	3	0	40	122	967	1089
Team Jonwaine	52	21	9	8	0	38	90	952	1042
Team Josh*	52	35	11	8	0	54	106	1148	1254
Team Julie	82	27	13	5	2	47	129	903	1032
Team Kari	52	39	11	5	9	64	116	1280	1396
Team Kate	10	9	0	2	0	11	21	361	382
Team Kent	52	40	11	8	9	68	120	1225	1345
Team Laurens	52	41	11	3	5	60	112	1124	1236
Team Liz*	36	20	6	8	0	34	70	774	844
Team Mitchinson	52	34	11	8	0	53	105	1162	1267
Team Rob	52	38	11	3	4	56	108	1069	1177
Team Sam*	52	22	9	8	0	39	91	841	932
Team Samuel*	82	27	13	5	0	45	127	1074	1201
Team Sylvia*	0	22	1	8	0	31	31	743	774
Team Tadej*	54	43	11	3	10	67	121	1117	1238
Team Wes	44	31	6	8	0	45	89	1021	1110
Team Will*	0	29	1	3	0	33	33	791	824

 

¡Viva la Vuelta!

 

-Laurens.