Tour de France: Rui Costa stays the course for victory

Published on Friday 8 July 2011 15:58

Rui Costa won yesterday's eighth stage of the Tour de France as Thor Hushovd retained the yellow jersey as the race entered the Massif Central.

Portugal's Costa escaped from the day's nine-man breakaway to solo success on the 189-km route from Aigurande to Super-Besse Sancy in central France.

Stage one winner Philippe Gilbert was second, 12 seconds behind after a late burst, with Australian Cadel Evans third. Evans' sprint to the line in a bid to assume the maillot jaune from Hushovd was in vain as the Garmin-Cervelo rider finished in the same group.

The overall contenders began to show themselves, with defending champion Alberto Contador marked closely by two-time runner-up Andy Schleck. Contador finished eighth, with Schleck ninth, both claiming the same time as Evans.

Costa was in a nine-man break which began after nine kilometres, and the group had an advantage of more than four minutes with 50km remaining. HTC-Highroad's Tejay van Garderen accelerated up the day's category two ascent of the Col de la Croix Saint-Robert to stretch the escape, reaching the top, the 25km-to-go mark, first, with only three of his fellow breakaway riders - Christophe Riblon, Cyril Gautier and Costa - for company.

Alexandre Vinokourov, who began the day ten seconds behind Hushovd, led a bid to bridge the gap.

The weather closed in and the rain began to fall as the final summit to Super-Besse Sancy began and Costa went clear alone, Van Garderen, Riblon and Gautier losing touch.

Vinokourov powered on and had Costa in his sights at 1km to go. However, the peloton, having absorbed the remaining breakaway riders, were also closing fast, with the overall contenders coming to the fore.

Schleck was watching every move made by Contador, as was Evans. Gilbert was also prominent and attacked inside the final kilometre, powering past Vinokourov.

Costa, though, had enough of a cushion to claim victory. Team Sky riders Geraint Thomas and Rigoberto Uran were among the 21-strong finishing group, enhancing their overall positions after losing time when team leader Bradley Wiggins crashed out with a broken collarbone on Friday. But Scotland's David Millar slipped to ninth overall after finishing 26 seconds behind Costa.

n Bradley Wiggins is set to undergo surgery on his broken collarbone tomorrow, Team Sky principal Dave Brailsford said yesterday.

Brailsford said: "He has seen a specialist this morning and will have to have a couple of plates inserted. He will be operated on in due course and then it's a question of recovery.

"It's the most common injury in cycling so in general people know how to rehab from it. He shouldn't be off the bike for long."