Stage 8, Jerez de la Frontera-Estepona.

The day after his compatriot Zdenek Stybar’s amazing victory, Leopold König of wild-card team NetApp-Endura created a bit of a surprise as he emerged a stage winner atop the Alto de Peñas Blancas in Estepona. He preceded Dani Moreno (Katusha) and Nicolas Roche (Saxo-Tinkoff) who took the lead over from Vincenzo Nibali.

The German team deserved their award as they rode hard behind the breakaway formed at km 34 by Dario Cataldo (Team Sky), Kevin De Weert (OPQS), Ben Gastauer (AG2R-La Mondiale), Rafael Valls Ferri (Vacansoleil-DCM), Francis De Greef (Lotto-Belisol), Jorge Azanza (Euskaltel), Alex Howes (Garmin-Sharp), Bartosz Huzarski (NetApp-Endura), Thierry Hupond (Argos-Shimano), Christian Meier (Orica-GreenEdge), Matthew Busche (RadioShack-Leopard), Dominik Nerz (BMC), Antonio Piedra (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA) and Beñat Intxausti (Movistar). On purpose, Huzarski who was the highest ranked rider overall awaited the peloton.

The time gap was stabilized around four minutes at the feed zone (km 94). It went down to less than a minute at the bottom of the climb. Cataldo, Nerz and Valls were the last attackers to surrender while the peloton was mainly led by the RadioShack-Leopard team. Two of the favorites got dropped eight kilometers from the top: Roman Kreuziger (Saxo-Tinkoff) and Bauke Mollema (Belkin).

Igor Anton (Euskaltel) attacked solo with 4.7km to go. The Basque climber got caught in the last kilometer of racing by König who went on to win the stage in a brilliant way. Roche reacted at the right time and escaped from the trio of the hot favorites (Nibali, Alejandro Valverde, Joaquim Rodriguez) to cross the line in third place and take the first leader’s jersey of his career in a Grand Tour. He’ll race in red from Antequera to Valdepeñas de Jaén (163.7km) on Sunday.

Ergebnisse der 8.Etappe

Jerez de la Frontera – Estepona / Alto de Peñas Blancas 158,0 kms. 31/08/2013 18:12:37

1º 151 KONIG, Leopold CZE TNE 4:09:46 10″

2º 127 MORENO, Daniel ESP KAT a 1 6″

3º 205 ROCHE, Nicolas IRL TST a 5 4″

4º 101 PINOT, Thibaut FRA FDJ a 5

5º 71 BASSO, Ivan ITA CAN a 5

6º 141 DE CLERCQ, Bart BEL LTB a 8

7º 92 ANTON, Igor ESP EUS a 13

8º 1 VALVERDE, Alejandro ESP MOV a 19

9º 121 RODRIGUEZ, Joaquin ESP KAT a 19

10º 198 URAN, Rigoberto COL SKY a 23

11º 184 HORNER, Christopher USA RLT a 23

12º 202 MAJKA, Rafal POL TST a 23

13º 11 POZZOVIVO, Domenico ITA ALM a 23

14º 189 ZUBELDIA, Haimar ESP RLT a 23

15º 191 HENAO, Sergio Luis COL SKY a 27

16º 31 NIBALI, Vincenzo ITA AST a 27

17º 22 BARGUIL, Warren FRA ARG a 31

18º 58 SANTAROMITA, Ivan ITA BMC a 40

19º 82 BAGOT, Yohann FRA COF a 40

20º 61 ARROYO, David ESP CJR a 40

General Klassement der 8.Etappe:

1º 205 ROCHE, Nicolas IRL TST 31:39:30 128 14″
2º 184 HORNER, Christopher USA RLT a 17 134 10″
3º 127 MORENO, Daniel ESP KAT a 17 245 22″
4º 31 NIBALI, Vincenzo ITA AST a 18 142
5º 151 KONIG, Leopold CZE TNE a 29 256 10″
6º 189 ZUBELDIA, Haimar ESP RLT a 30 234
7º 1 VALVERDE, Alejandro ESP MOV a 31 161 6″
8º 198 URAN, Rigoberto COL SKY a 42 222
9º 202 MAJKA, Rafal POL TST a 52 227
10º 121 RODRIGUEZ, Joaquin ESP KAT a 1:03 236 4″
11º 58 SANTAROMITA, Ivan ITA BMC a 1:17 234
12º 71 BASSO, Ivan ITA CAN a 1:28 284
13º 101 PINOT, Thibaut FRA FDJ a 1:37 383
14º 2 CAPECCHI, Eros ITA MOV a 1:42 338
15º 11 POZZOVIVO, Domenico ITA ALM a 1:59 315 4″
16º 36 KANGERT, Tanel EST AST a 2:01 342
17º 48 TEN DAM, Laurens NED BEL a 2:02 358
18º 131 SCARPONI, Michele ITA LAM a 2:03 289
19º 141 DE CLERCQ, Bart BEL LTB a 2:22 410
20º 22 BARGUIL, Warren FRA ARG a 2:25 313

Photographen (siehe Dateiendung):

Armin M. Küstenbrück / EGO-Promotion

Marius Maasewerd / EGO-Promotio

 

Nicholas Roche der Gesamtführende

Leopaold Konig in der 8. Etappe.