Nikias Arndt survived a late downpour and treacherous conditions to snatch victory in stage 8 of the Vuelta a Espana as Nicolas Edet took over as overall leader.
Arndt was a part of the main breakaway and as the rain hammered down came through late to claim the victory in Igualada, near Barcelona, at the end of a 166.9 kilometre ride from Vals.
In the final sprint, the German edged out Alex Aranburu (Caja Rural), who finished second, and third-placed Tosh van der Sande (Lotto Soudal).
“I always said I wanted to win a stage and now I have won at the Vuelta,” said Arndt, who also won a stage of the Giro d’Italia three years ago.
Frenchman Edet, who was the best climber at the Vuelta in 2013, took advantage of a general apathy among the favourites to finish nine minutes ahead of the peloton and so take the red jersey from Miguel Angel Lopez.
Sunday’s ninth stage in Andorra will be brutal with five categorised climbs in less than 100 kilometres and an off-road section close to the finish.
Vuelta a Espana 2019 – stage 8 results (Valls – Igualada):
| 1 | Nikias Arndt (Team Sunweb) | 3:50:48 |
| 2 | Alexander Aranburu (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA) | ,, |
| 3 | Tosh Van Der Sande (Lotto Soudal) | ,, |
| 4 | Ruben Guerreiro (Katusha-Alpecin) | ,, |
| 5 | Jonas Koch (CCC) | ,, |
| 6 | Dylan Teuns (Bahrain-Merida) | ,, |
| 7 | Jonathan Lastra (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA) | ,, |
| 8 | Tobias Ludvigsson (Groupama-FDJ) | ,, |
| 9 | Fernando Barcelo (Euskadi-Murias) | ,, |
| 10 | Sergio Henao (UAE Team Emirates) | ,, |
| 11 | Nicolas Edet (Cofidis) | ,, |
| 12 | Peter Stetina (Trek-Segafredo) | ,, |
| 13 | Carl Fredrik Hagen (Lotto Soudal) | ,, |
| 14 | Zdenek Stybar (Deceuninck-Quick-Step) | +06” |
| 15 | David de la Cruz (Team Ineos) | +35” |
| 16 | Martijn Tusveld (Team Sunweb) | +58” |
| 17 | Luis Leon Sanchez (Astana) | ,, |
| 18 | Jesus Herrada (Cofidis) | ,, |
| 19 | Jorge Arcas (Movistar) | +02’32” |
| 20 | Nicholas Dlamini (Dimension Data) | +05’37” |
Vuelta a Espana 2019 – general classification after stage 8:
| 1 | Nicolas Edet (Cofidis) | 32:16:24 |
| 2 | Dylan Teuns (Bahrian-Merida) | +02’21” |
| 3 | Miguel Angel Lopez (Astana) | +03’01” |
| 4 | Primoz Roglic (Jumbo-Visma) | +03’07” |
| 5 | Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) | +03’17” |
| 6 | Nairo Quintana (Movistar) | +03’28” |
| 7 | Carl Fredrik Hagen (Lotto Soudal) | +03’45” |
| 8 | Rafal Majka (Bora-hansgrohe) | +04’59” |
| 9 | Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) | +05’37” |
| 10 | Esteban Chaves (Mitchelton-Scott) | +05’53” |
| 11 | George Bennett (Jumbo-Visma) | +06’35” |
| 12 | Wilco Kelderman (Team Sunweb) | +06’37” |
| 13 | Fabio Aru (UAE Team Emirates) | ,, |
| 14 | Pierre Latour (AG2R La Mondiale) | +06’56” |
| 15 | Mikel Nieve (Mitchelton-Scott) | +07’02” |
| 16 | Oscar Rodriguez (Euskadi-Murias) | +07’56” |
| 17 | Peter Stetina (Trek-Segafredo) | +08’09” |
| 18 | Hermann Pernsteiner (Bahrain-Merida) | +09’09” |
| 19 | Sergio Higuita (EF Education First) | +09’25” |
| 20 | David de la Cruz (Team Ineos) | +09’29” |
