Thomas fifth as duo make the break

Geraint Thomas sprinted to fifth place atop Prati di Tivo as stage eight came down to a select group of general classification contenders. 

The Welshman retained third overall, crossing the line just behind stage winner and maglia rosa Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates). Thomas now sits two minutes and 58 seconds back on the Slovenian.

Thymen Arensman was also present in the lead group and did a great job to twice hit the front and maintain a tempo in the closing metres. The Dutchman finished eighth on the stage, with his strong performance moving him up into the top 10 overall, now ninth on GC.

A fast start to the stage saw an inevitable battle for the breakaway. Tobias Foss was active early on, while in the end it would be Jhonatan Narvaez and Magnus Sheffield who forged on into the day's break.

Sadly the move was never afforded a large enough advantage to stay clear, with a lack of cohesion ultimately seeing all of its participants reeled in on the final climb.

Over in Hungary, there was another Grenadier in the breakaway as Salvatore Puccio made his way into the day's seven-man move. In the end the action came back together for an uphill sprint, won by race leader Thibau Nys (Lidl-Trek).

Reaction

- Geraint Thomas

"Today was a lot better. I didn't feel great at the start but it was a solid start. I felt good on the last climb and I was kind of hoping [UAE] would squeeze a bit more. 

"It was good - I just got a bit bogged down in that sprint, and I didn't quite have the legs anyway. But it's all good and better than yesterday."