After two days in the high mountains, the Vuelta shifts gears for stage 8 with a flat 164km route from Monzón to Zaragoza. It is the most straightforward parcours so far in this year’s race and one of the few clear-cut opportunities for the sprinters. That alone will give added motivation to teams like Alpecin-Deceuninck, Lidl-Trek and Israel-Premier Tech, all of whom have already come close but will want to deliver a result on the wide roads into Spain’s fifth largest city.
2025 Vuelta a España stage 8 details
Date: Saturday 30th August
Distance: 164km
Start location: Monzón
Finish location: Zaragoza
Start time: 13:40 CEST
Finish time: 17:20 CEST
The stage travels west across the open plains of Aragón, with little in the way of elevation change and only a single intermediate sprint at Peñaflor after 121km. For much of the day, it’s about positioning and wind. While the weather is typically calm at this time of year, the terrain is exposed enough that even a slight breeze could open the door to echelons. However, unless conditions shift, this should be a textbook bunch sprint stage – the kind that rarely appears in this year’s route.
Zaragoza has hosted the Vuelta regularly in the past, particularly in the early 2000s, when Alessandro Petacchi took back-to-back wins. After a long absence, the race returned here in 2023, where Juan Sebastián Molano won a fast and clean sprint. The same scenario is expected again, with the last kilometre offering a straight run-in that will favour a well-organised lead-out.
Photo Credit: GettyContenders
Jasper Philipsen leads the charge after taking the red jersey on stage 1 and showing strong form again in the Pyrenees. His Alpecin-Deceuninck train is among the best in the race, and the Belgian has already won this kind of finish multiple times this season, including the Tour de France opener in Lille.
Mads Pedersen continues to pile up points in the green jersey competition, and despite missing out on a stage win so far, he has been consistently placed. The flat run-in could suit him less than others, but if he’s in position, he will always be a threat.
Ethan Vernon and Jake Stewart have both featured prominently for Israel-Premier Tech, and while Vernon is the more natural sprinter, Stewart’s positioning and fight over the climbs have put him in the mix on harder days too. Movistar may look to Iván García Cortina or Orluis Aular depending on the day’s dynamics, but both have the power and speed to contest the finish if they stay protected.
Other names to watch include Elia Viviani, who continues to seek a breakthrough for Lotto, Bryan Coquard, who is ever-present in the sprints, and Casper van Uden, who gives Team Picnic PostNL a genuine top-five chance if things line up cleanly.
Prediction
Jasper Philipsen to win stage 8. The lead-out is drilled, the confidence is high, and with no climbs or technical finale to navigate, this looks like another day for the fastest man in the race.
