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Riders are swarming around the race car as they await the flag.
Eulalio didn’t commit to expressing what he felt his chances of keeping hold of the pink jersey are. “We need to fight, and we need to try to keep the jersey, and we will fight til the rest day for sure,” he said after yesterday’s stage.
Afonso Eulalio remains in pink today, albeit with his advantage slashed to 3:17 following the Blockhaus summit finish. The climbs today will be more in his wheelhouse, and he’ll be confident of retaining the lead.
The crowds cheer the riders rollout from the neutralised start. Travelling through the narrow streets of Chieti.
That said, the parcours today looks very good for the chance of a breakaway succeeding, with lots of riders now far enough down on GC to be allowed up the road by the few still left in GC contention, and climbs ranked category three and four that might suit puncheurs rather than pure climbers. Therefore there could be an intense, exhausting battle to get into the break at the start – brace yourself!
The sky is blue and the weather warm, for what should be a pleasant day in the saddle – at least until the climbing starts deeper into the stage.
The riders have assembled in Chieti, and the unofficial start is set for 13:15 CET, in about a quarter of an hour.
Yesterday was a pivotal game-changer in the race for the Pink Jersey, a first real sort-out in the GC and true revelation of who of the pre-race contenders are going best, and in the race for the podium. We’ll be reflecting on what happened throughout the stage today, but first have a read of our extensive analysis.
And don’t forget to vote on what you think is going to happen in the poll above!
If you’re after a closer look at the stage today, here’s our full preview with details of all the climbs and sprints.
On the menu today is 155km in the Marche region from Chieti to Fermo. It’s a fairly simple roll out, but then a challenging 55km, with four climbs and a hilltop finish in Fermo.
Hello and welcome to our live coverage of stage 8 of the Giro d’Italia!