Fabio Jakobsen wins his second stage and reclaims Green Jersey

Dutch rider Fabio Jakobsen won stage 8 of the Vuelta a Espana on Saturday for his second mass sprint triumph on the race just a year after a near fatal crash on the Tour of Poland

Overall leader Primoz Roglic retained the red jersey after the largely flat 173km run from resort town Santa Ponta as Jakobsen of Deceuninck Quick-Step outpaced Alberto Dainese and Jasper Philipsen at the line.

Astana forced a sudden acceleration at the head of the peloton with 30km briefly spltting the bunch in three, before the entire pack regathered and raced shoulder to shoulder all the way to a nervy high speed finish.

On a broad dual-carriageway Jakobsen was expertly delivered to the front of a frantic throng of sprinters and then proved more powerful than his great rival Philipsen of Alpecin.

Both men have two stage wins but Jakosen on 180 points has retaken the green sprint points jersey from Philipsen on 164.

Last August 5 the now 24-year-old Jakobsen had a brush with death in a terrifying crash in a mass sprint on the Tour of Poland. He needed five-hours of surgery after breaking his jaw and losing all his teeth.

Fabio Jakobsen said to the press, "It's very special to be here again. The team did a perfect job, they kept the speed high and even though I lost them a little bit I was still in a good position. I launched my sprint just in the corner at 200 to go and I was the fastest, I think."

Tomorrow's 9th stage on La Vuelta takes in three intermediate ascents before the final haul up on the Alto de Velefique. The route adds up to 188 kilometres, while the finish climb is 13.2 kilometres long with an average gradient of 7.3%. The elevation gain adds up to almost 4,500 metres.

VIDEO: 2021 La Vuelta Stage 8 Last KM

2021 La Vuelta Stage 8 Top 10

1 Fabio Jakobsen (Ned) Deceuninck-QuickStep 3:56:05
2 Alberto Dainese (Ita) Team DSM
3 Jasper Philipsen (Bel) Alpecin-Fenix
4 Jordi Meeus (Bel) Bora-Hansgrohe
5 Juan Sebastian Molano Benavides (Col) UAE Team Emirates
6 Itamar Einhorn (Isr) Israel Start-up Nation
7 Arnaud Demare (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
8 Michael Matthews (Aus) Team BikeExchange
9 Martin Laas (Est) Bora-Hansgrohe
10 Piet Allegaert (Bel) Cofidis

2021 La Vuelta GC after Stage 8 Top 10

1 Primoz Roglic (Slo) Jumbo-Visma 29:14:40
2 Felix Grossschartner (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe 0:00:08
3 Enric Mas Nicolau (Spa) Movistar Team 0:00:25
4 Miguel Angel Lopez Moreno (Col) Movistar Team 0:00:36
5 Jan Polanc (Slo) UAE Team Emirates 0:00:38
6 Egan Bernal Gomez (Col) Ineos Grenadiers 0:00:41
7 Jack Haig (Aus) Bahrain Victorious 0:00:57
8 Sepp Kuss (USA) Jumbo-Visma 0:00:59
9 Aleksandr Vlasov (Rus) Astana-Premier Tech 0:01:06
10 Adam Yates (GBr) Ineos Grenadiers 0:01:22