Vuelta a Espana: Jasper Stuyven wins as Dan Martin crashes out

Jasper Stuyven sprinted to victory and Esteban Chaves retained his overall lead on an eventful eighth stage of the Vuelta a Espana in which two general classification contenders crashed out.

Ireland's Dan Martin (Cannondale-Garmin), who had been third in the standings, and Tejay van Garderen (BMC Racing), who was 16th, both had to abandon after being involved in a pile-up with 50km remaining.

French sprinter Nacer Bouhanni, who was one of the favourites to win the stage, was also involved in the incident and left the race with his injuries.

Stuyven fell as well but was able to continue and went on to claim his first professional win by beating Pello Bilbao (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA) into second place and Kevin Reza (FDJ.fr) into third in Murcia.

With the exception of the stricken Martin, all of the general classification contenders finished in the peloton, meaning Chaves (Orica-GreenEdge) remains 10 seconds ahead of second-placed Tom Dumoulin (Giant-Alpecin).

Nicolas Roche (Team Sky) replaces Martin in third, 36 seconds back, while Chris Froome (Team Sky) stays 1min 22sec down but is now 11th.

Stuyven told Eurosport: "I was in the big crash. I hit my wrist pretty bad, but I jumped on the bike again and chased back. In the sprint, I didn't feel a headwind, so I said I will go with 300m to go. I felt immediately it was for me today."

There was another high-profile crash late in the stage, when Peter Sagan (Tinkoff-Saxo) was brought down by one of the race vehicles. Although he was unhurt, it ended his chances of stage victory and he reacted by punching the medical car and kicking his bike.

The Vuelta continues on Sunday with a 168.3km ninth stage from Torrevieja to Cumbre del Sol (Benitatxell), which ends with a category-one summit finish.

Stage eight result

1 Jasper Stuyven (Bel) Trek Factory Racing, 4:06:05

2 Pello Bilbao (Esp) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA, same time#

3 Kevin Reza (Fra) FDJ.fr, st

4 Giovanni Visconti (Ita) Movistar, st

5 Kristian Sbaragli (Ita) MTN-Qhubeka, st

6 Tosh Van Der Sande (Bel) Lotto Soudal, st

7 Julien Simon (Fra) Cofidis, st

8 Pieter Serry (Bel) Etixx – Quick-Step, st

9 Jose Joaquin Rojas (Esp) Movistar, st

10 Nicolas Roche (Irl) Team Sky, st

General classification

1 Esteban Chaves (Col) Orica-GreenEdge, 31:12:18

2 Tom Dumoulin (Ned) Giant-Alpecin, +10sec

3 Nicolas Roche (Irl) Team Sky, +36

4 Alejandro Valverde (Esp) Movistar, +49

5 Joaquim Rodriguez (Esp) Katusha, +56

6 Nairo Quintana (Col) Movistar, +57

7 Fabio Aru (Ita) Astana, same time

8 Daniel Moreno (Esp) Katusha, +1:18

9 Domenico Pozzovivo (Ita) Ag2r-La Mondiale, +1:19

10 Mikel Nieve (Esp) Team Sky, +1:21

Selected other

11 Chris Froome (GB) Team Sky, +1:22