Rui Alberto Faria Da Costa wins 8th stage and Thor Hushovd retains his lead in 2011 Tour de France
Movistar team’s Rui Alberto Faria da Costa won the eighth stage in 2011 Tour de France on Saturday, July 9. Thor Hushovd maintained his overall leader’s yellow jersey.
The race started in Aigurande and ended in Super-Besse Sancy. The 24-year-old Portuguese professional cyclist took a total of 4 hours, 36 minutes and 46 seconds to cover the distance of 190 kilometres.
After winning the stage, Rui Costa said, "Obviously it's always been a dream to win a stage like this. It's incredible! I attacked at a crucial moment when I saw that my breakaway companions were starting to flag. That gave me a bit of a cushion and worked to my advantage.”
Recently, Rui Costa took the overall first place in Vuelta a la Comunidad de Madrid. He also took the overall sixth place in Volta ao Algrave and also won the eighth stage of Tour de Suisse in 2010.
Philippe Gilbert surged from the chasing group and grabbed the runner-up spot with 12 seconds behind Rui Alberto. Australian, Cadel Evans finished third with a difference of 15 seconds.
Damiano Cunego (Lampre – ISD) was in good form and also took the part in the eight-man break, but he was unable to maintain his pace and grabbed the seventh place.
With 25 kilometres to go, Rui Costa was joined by five riders including, Tejay Van Garderen (HTC-Highroad), Alexandre Vinokourov (Astana), Cyril Gautier (Europcar), Juan Antonio Flecha (Team Sky) and Christophe Riblon (Ag2r La Mondiale).
However, Rui Costa maintained his pace and managed to cross the line first ahead of other cyclists.
Thos Hushovd extended his overall standing with a timing of 33 hours, 6 minutes and 28 seconds while Cadel Evans was the runner-up with 1 second down to Thor. Frank Schleck finished third with a difference of 4 seconds.
Thor told the media, "I had to close the gap at the end because I couldn't keep up with the others on the climb, but I did just enough to hold on to the jersey. Tomorrow is another hard day but I'd like to be in yellow again and keep it for the rest day on Monday."
The next stage will start in Issoire and end in Saint-Flour. All the riders will cover the distance of 208 kilometres.
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