Giro d’Italia stage 8: Thomas De Gendt takes sensational win from the break

Thomas De Gendt (Lotto Soudal) came out on top on stage 8 of the Giro d’Italia, winning from a four-man group in Naples.

The Belgian breakaway specialist beat Davide Gabruso and Jorge Arcas to the line, with De Gendt’s teammate Harm Vanhoucke finishing fourth. The win came ten years after De Gendt’s first Giro d’Italia stage win on the Stelvio. 

Stage 8 of the Giro d’Italia got off to a blistering start in Napoli as Mathieu van der Poel initiated a 21-man breakaway boasting names like Girmay, De Gendt, Poels, and Ulissi. However the presence of Guillaume Martin meant that Trek-Segafredo worked hard to keep the gap in check, thus protecting the maglia rosa of Juan Pedro Lopez. Girmay took the 12 points in the intermediate sprint and on the Monte di Procida, De Gendt took the king of the mountain points.

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An attack at 43 kilometers to go saw a group of five split off from the breakaway: Gabburo, De Gendt, Vanhoucke, Arcas, and Ravanelli, with Ravanelli later being dropped. An attack at with 2km to from Van der Poel and Girmay see the two attempt to bridge, but ultimately, De Gendt prevailed in the reduced sprint after a long leadout from Vanhoucke.

“With a group this big and really good guys like van der Poel, Ulissi, Girmay, we knew that they would all look at them. Mathieu…went really hard on the second to last lap. We got dropped…and made it back. We made an attack just to try. We knew everyone would look at van der Poel and Girmay to close the gap so we took a bit of an advantage and we hoped that we would make it over the steep climb and they wouldn’t catch us afterward but they stayed at 30 seconds,” said De Gendt, describing his strategy.

“ I was working for Harm [Vanhoucke] so that he could attack on the climb but he said he didn’t have good legs…I said in the last 3 km to Harm, we ride full and…I’m sure I will win in the sprint.”

Juan Pedro Lopez remains in the maglia rosa followed by Lennard Kamna (Bora Hansgrohe) at 38 seconds, and Rein Taaramae (Intermarché Wanty Group Gobert) at 58 seconds. Ahead of the Blockhaus stage, Guillaume Martin moved up 24 positions in the general classification, trailing Lopez by only 1:06.

How it unfolded

It was a fast and furious start in Napoli, where stage 8 of the 2022 Giro d’Italia took place on a circuit gifting riders and spectators alike a lovely panorama of the colorful Italian city known for its rich archeological sites and picturesque coastal architecture.

Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Fenix) kicked things off during the prelude to the circuit with the decisive breakaway attack bringing with him a cohort of twenty-one riders including such names as Biniam Girmay (Intermarché Wanty Groupe Gobert), Wout Poels (Bahrain Victorious), Diego Ulissi (UAE Team Emirates), and Thomas de Gendt (Lotto Soudal). 

It looked as though a break of this strength could take several minutes while the rest of the peloton saved their legs for the brutal Blockhaus climb tomorrow. However, the presence of GC threat Guillaume Martin (Cofidis) in the breakaway meant that Trek-Segafredo had to work extensively on the front in order to protect the maglia rosa of Juan Pedro Lopez.

As a result, the gap hovered around a mere two to three minutes until the attacks came in the finale of the circuit where the elastic between peloton and breakaway snapped and the gap grew to over four minutes. Girmay took the full 12 points in the intermediate sprint in Lago Patria, indicating that van Der Poel and Alpecin Fenix were not pursuing the maglia ciclamino, currently worn by Groupama FDJ’s Arnaud Démare. 

The cooperation in the break was shattered with 46 kilometers to go, when van der Poel attacked on the Torregaveta. After things came back together up front, Bardiani’s Davide Gabburo made a well-timed move that split the group again, taking with him Lotto’s De Gendt, Harm Vanhoucke, Drone Hopper’s Simone Ravanelli, and Movistar’s Jorge Arcas.

Mutual wariness of a bigger sprint finish disrupted the van der Poel group behind, with De Gendt and company stretching their advantage to a maximum of 40 seconds. In the final lap of the circuit, on the last ascent of the Monte di Procida, Ravanelli was dropped and in the van der Poel group, several riders were also shelled out the back.

With 29 kilometers to go, Quickstep-Alpha Vinyl’s Mauro Schmid upped the pace again in the chase with several counterattacks following, ultimately shaving fifteen seconds off the gap to the quartet up front. In the wake of these attacks, van der Poel, Schmid, Girmay, Martin, and Poels were all that remained of a once large pursuing group.

Behind in the peloton, Trek-Segafredo set a furious pace in an attempt to rein in Martin’s time gap and cushion Lopez’s advantage ahead of a big climbing day tomorrow where he could potentially lose the maglia rosa. 

In the final six kilometers, Kamna and Juan Pedro Lopez set off from the peloton in a head-to-head for the lead of the race. Up ahead, thanks to digs by Schmid, the gap between the two groups dropped to under 20 seconds. Van der Poel and Girmay attacked in the final 2 kilometers and bore down on the quartet, working together to have a chance.

In the final kilometers, the duo were unable to bridge despite the monumental effort. A day in the breakaway had worn down those entering into the reduced sprint. Thomas De Gendt, the breakaway specialist, however, was able to conserve his effort. In a chaotic run-in to the line, De Gendt easily left his companions behind and crossed the line arms raised as the victor of the stage.