Caleb Ewan finally Strikes Gold on a Hairy Stage 8 Finish

Lotto Soudal's Caleb Ewan won the Sprint after a damp and twisting run into Presaro, he outsprinted Viviani and Ackermann

The longest stage saw a breakaway go away but was reeled in with 30 kms to go, only for anoter 3 riders; Louis Vervaeke and Francois Bidard and Ciccone to attack again and get a 20 second gap.

The attack was futile as the sprinters and GC favorites teams caught them with 5 kms to go.

The finish was very dicey, several full 90 degree hairpins with wet patches, that didn't see any jostling for position.

The final bend came with 200m to go with Ackermann, Ewan and Viviani poised for the final sprint.

It was Ewan who had the strongest legs outsprinting Viviani and Ackemann on the line.

Tomorrow is a 34.7 km Individual Time Trial which will be critical for the GC contenders and an easy recovery ride for the sprinters ahead of Monday's full rest day as we move into the second week of the race.

VIDEO: 2019 Giro d'Italia Stage 8 Highlights

2019 Giro d'Italia Stage 8 Top 10

1 Caleb Ewan (Aus) Lotto Soudal 5:43:32
2 Elia Viviani (Ita) Deceuninck-QuickStep
3 Pascal Ackermann (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe
4 Fabio Sabatini (Ita) Deceuninck-QuickStep
5 Manuel Belletti (Ita) Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec
6 Arnaud Demare (Fra) Groupama-FDJ
7 Davide Cimolai (Ita) Israel Cycling Academy
8 Marco Canola (Ita) Nippo-Vini Fantini-Faizane
9 Giacomo Nizzolo (Ita) Dimension Data
10 Rüdiger Selig (Ger) Bora-Hansgrohe

2019 Giro d'Italia GC after Stage 8

1 Valerio Conti (Ita) UAE Team Emirates 35:13:06
2 José Rojas (Spa) Movistar Team 0:01:32
3 Giovanni Carboni (Ita) Bardiani CSF 0:01:41
4 Nans Peters (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:02:09
5 Valentin Madouas (Fra) Groupama-FDJ 0:02:17
6 Amaro Antunes (Por) CCC Team 0:02:45
7 Fausto Masnada (Ita) Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec 0:03:14
8 Pieter Serry (Bel) Deceuninck-QuickStep 0:03:25
9 Andrey Amador (CRc) Movistar Team 0:03:27
10 Sam Oomen (Ned) Team Sunweb 0:04:57