Breakaway king, Thomas de Gendt won another fine breakaway victory at a Grand Tour by winning stage eight in Naples. He was part of an initial breakaway attacking in the latter stages and winning a four-man sprint at the end of a hilly circuit. This is the Belgian rider's fifth Grand Tour stage win, 10 years after his first in the 2012 Giro.
"Today was one of those days that suits me. Ten years after the Stelvio stage (his first Giro win) I finally win a stage at the Giro again."
-Thomas de Gendt
On the Stelvio, 2012 Giro
Guillaume Martin was part of the initial breakaway, and finished three minutes ahead of the peloton,
allowing him to vault from 14th to 4th in GC.
"When I saw that riders like van der Poel and Girmay were going on the offensive right from the start, I did it instinctively. I said to myself that it was not so bad to be in front because it allowed me to do the circuit without the stress of placement and falls. It was worth it since I took 3 minutes back. It was not planned, but it's a good day."
-Guillaume Martin
Grand Tour debutant, Biniam Girmay earned his 5th top 5 in eight days and
gained 22 points for the Ciclamino jersey.
"I'm impressed about what I was capable of today after such a hard day yesterday. We rode full gas from start to finish. In the final it was difficult tactically, because everyone was watching Mathieu van der Poel and myself. I'm happy to achieve another good result for the team. In addition, I won important points in the battle for the maglia ciclamino. Today I seized a nice opportunity and I'm convinced that more will come in the next two weeks.."
-Biniam Girmay
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