Giro d`Italia stage 8

Euskaltel saved their forces in today`s eighth stage in the Giro with the Etna looming large on the horizon tomorrow. In other words it was a quiet and anonymous performance from the guys, and only Antón managed to stay with the main peloton over that little climb towards the end that Gatto used as his launch pad for his win. As a result Antón is now ranked 20th overall, still 1:15 down on Weening. Eight days into the Giro I hadn`t imagined he´d be so close to the main favourites, so he`s set himself up nicely for the closing two weeks. Nieve usually struggles on these kinds of nervy, high-tempo finishes and did so today as well, ceding 15 seconds. For him losing some time on the flatter stages might not be such a bad thing as it`ll probably give him more leeway if he decides to go for it in the mountains. Azanza came in with the second group at 26 seconds, while Sesma was 38 down, Oroz 1:01, Minguez 1:11, Aramendía 1:22, and Isasi and Cazaux 1:24.