Giro d'Italia 2015: Stage 8 Results, Overall Standings and Highlights

Movistar's Benat Intxausti won the 2015 Giro d'Italia's first real mountain stage on Saturday, arriving solo at the summit of Campitello Matese after a fantastic day of racing. Stage 8 saw plenty of attacks from the top riders in the standings, but favourite Alberto Contador survived comfortably.

Sky Sports shared this image of the Spaniard raising his arms in triumph:

The results from Stage 8:

Rider	Time
1 Benat Intxausti (Spa) Movistar Team	4:51:34
2 Mikel Landa Meana (Spa) Astana Pro Team	0:00:20
3 Sebastien Reichenbach (Swi) IAM Cycling	0:00:31
4 Fabio Aru (Ita) Astana Pro Team	Same Time
5 Alberto Contador (Spa) Tinkoff-Saxo	Same Time
6 Richie Porte (Aus) Team Sky	Same Time
7 Rigoberto Uran (Col) Etixx - Quick-Step	Same Time
8 Dario Cataldo (Ita) Astana Pro Team	Same Time
9 Damiano Cunego (Ita) Nippo - Vini Fantini 0:00:45	Same Time
10 Damiano Caruso (Ita) BMC Racing Team	Same Time

The peloton knew it would be in for a rough day of climbing after a frantic opening week of the 2015 Giro, and as shared by Team Sky, the profile of Saturday's stage looked daunting:

Kristof Vandewalle, Carlos Betancur and Steven Kruijswijk were the only ones to survive from an early break as the peloton made its way toward the final climb. With plenty of Giro ahead of them, the top riders decided against attacking early, conserving all of their energy for the Campitello Matese.

Kruijswijk looked particularly strong and attacked almost from the base of the climb, while Astana started to push the tempo in the favourites' group for Fabio Aru.

The young Italian seemed determined to test the injured Contador on Saturday, and as shared by Team Sky, he was the first big favourite to launch an attack:

Richie Porte and Damiano Cunego also tried their luck, but Tinkoff-Saxo parried the attacks without much trouble. At the front of the race, Intxausti passed all of the riders from the early break before finding his own pace, and he soon found himself riding all alone with a healthy lead.

Astana threw everything they had at Contador, but he and Rigoberto Uran made a fantastic impression on Saturday, and the duo remain the favourites for the general classification.

The team even allowed Mikel Landa to put some pressure on their opponents, but per Velocast's Scott O'Raw, that may have actually worked in favour of Contador:

Landa went looking for Intxausti but came just short of catching the eventual stage-winner, while Aru won the sprint in the favourites' group.

Here's the general classification after Saturday's stage:

Pos	Rider (Nationality) Team	Time
1	Alberto Contador (Spa) Tinkoff-Saxo	32:40:07
2	Fabio Aru (Ita) Astana Pro Team	+4
3	Richie Porte (Aus) Team Sky	+22
4	Dario Cataldo (Ita) Astana Pro Team	+30
5	Mikel Landa Meana (Spa) Astana Pro Team	+42
6	Roman Kreuziger (Cze) Tinkoff-Saxo	+1:00
7	Giovanni Visconti (Ita) Movistar Team	+1:16
8	Rigoberto Uran (Col) Etixx - Quick-Step	+1:24

It's safe to say that after surviving the longest stage of this year's Giro and a heavy mountain stage, Contador's left arm looks fine. The Spaniard has never been one to give up easily―he rode several miles on a broken leg during last year's Tour de France, per the New York Times' Ian Austen—and it appears he should be fine for the rest of this Giro.

Contador acknowledged Astana showed their strength on Saturday, although he and Tinkoff-Saxo were hardly ever troubled, via Contador Notebook:

He managed to put on the new maglia rosa without any difficulty after the stage, sending a clear signal to Aru, Uran and Porte that he is still the man to beat, even if his arm isn't 100 percent.

Sunday's Stage 9 has a similar profile to Saturday's wild stage, although the most challenging ascents will be found in the middle of the stage. Expect less involvement from the top contenders, giving some of the lesser-known riders the chance to take the stage win and the maglia rosa if Tinkoff-Saxo allows it.

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