This page contains the stage podium, the race story, GC implications after the stage, and per-rider performance. Read no further if you intend to watch this stage unspoiled.
Jhonatan Narváez took his second stage win of this Giro, accelerating on the Muro di Capodarco at 10 km to go and soloing into Fermo. Leknessund 2nd at +0:32, Tjøtta 3rd at +0:42 (an Uno-X 2-3). Afonso Eulálio retained pink — Vingegaard and Hindley snatched 2 seconds at the line over GC rivals. GC frame from Stage 7 essentially holds.
~155 km Chieti → Fermo, with the closing 55 km studded with the Muri of Le Marche: Montefiore dell'Aso at the front of the finale, Capodarco, then the steep wall back into Fermo inside 10 km to go.
Attacks from the gun. Six riders including Alberto Bettiol got clear, were reeled in, and Bettiol went again with Filippo Ganna — 30 seconds for the two Italians until they were caught with roughly 100 km to ride. The racing never settled. Inside the final 75 km a large break formed, and from it Mikkel Bjerg, Jhonatan Narváez and Andreas Leknessund pushed clear to a minute's lead.
On Montefiore dell'Aso a ~40-rider chase group formed — Scaroni, Christen, Arrieta, Poels, van den Broek, Zana, Strong, López and others — but cooperation never came together. Javier Romo tried a solo bridge to the leaders and failed.
On the Muro di Capodarco, Narváez accelerated. He opened a gap; Leknessund clawed back to him once; Narváez kicked again and was clear for good. The steep climbs in the finale suited him, and he soloed to his second Giro stage win. Leknessund + 0:32, Tjøtta + 0:42 from the chase.
The peloton arrived almost two minutes after Narváez. Hindley and Vingegaard sprinted to gain two seconds at the line on their GC rivals.
GC after Stage 8: Eulálio still in maglia rosa, Vingegaard 2nd at +3:15, Gall 3rd at +3:34, Scaroni 4th at +4:18, Hindley 5th at +4:23, Pellizzari 6th at +4:28, O'Connor 7th at +4:32. The Blockhaus frame from Stage 7 carries forward — a hilly transition day didn't move the needle, but Vingegaard and Hindley snatched 2 seconds with a finish-line dig over the rest of the GC group.
Took his second win of the race from the hilly Le Marche finale, accelerating on the Muro di Capodarco inside 10 km to go and soloing into Fermo ahead of the Uno-X pair Leknessund and Tjøtta. The steep walls suited him perfectly and confirmed him as the Giro's most prolific stage-hunter.
Late-bridge attempt with Alberto Bettiol after the initial six-rider break was reeled in. Got to a 30-second gap as a 2-up move before being absorbed with around 100 km to go. Not a win-shape effort, but the kind of aggressive scouting INEOS now uses Ganna for on hilly stages where his TT engine can hold a break together. No GC consequence.