The Vuelta a España is the final gasp of the Coronavirus-plagued 2020 World Tour season, and the riders are bracing themselves to grab any result they can.

When a seven-man lead group opened a gap of nearly 5 minutes midway through the 164km stage, it looked as if the stage 8 victory would belong to the breakaway, but the Movistar team took the lead, opened the throttle on the descent of Puerto de la Rasa, and nailed the breakaway at the base of the final climb.

Martín entered the stage in third place, 20 seconds behind race leader Richard Calapaz (Ineos Grenadiers) and 2 seconds behind Hugh Carthy (EF Pro Cycling). However, Kersee attacked on a steep climb with 4km to go, and Martin responded. The EF riders paid for their efforts when Kersee was caught by Calapas and Roglic, losing 33 seconds to stage winner Roglic.

Logrich's counterattack and Karthy's crack swapped the two riders' overall positions, with Logrich moving into second place, 13 seconds behind Kalapas, and Karthy dropping to fourth place, 44 seconds behind. Martin retained his second place overall by 28 seconds.

"It was a really difficult stage. But obviously Ineos and Movistar had a different idea and the pace was up all day," Martin said.

"I felt good on the last climb and decided to test the others. Primoz attacked me in the last kilometer, but I couldn't react to anything. At that point it was important to finish as fast as possible. I gave everything I had.

The Israeli Startup Nation rider fought hard all the way to the top of the climb, and although he lost time to Roglic and Karapas, he finished 14 seconds ahead of Kersee, earning a bonus 4 seconds for third place on the stage.

The race heads to the flat on Wednesday, with a short uphill finish on Suances on Friday and two big mountain finishes on the weekend in Alto de la Farrapona and Alto de Langrille.

"We have another difficult stage ahead. The next two days will present different challenges to stay out of trouble and to recover as much as possible before an incredibly difficult weekend."