Belgium’s Jasper Philipsen claimed his second stage victory of this year’s Vuelta a Espana on stage eight.

The Alpecin–Deceuninck rider edged out Italy’s Elia Viviani (Lotto) and Ethan Vernon (Israel-Premier Tech) of Great Britain in a photo finish on the 163.5km stage from Monzon Templario to Zaragoza.

“I had to find my way, take a bit of extra wind, and really come late because my legs were concrete,” said Philipsen.

“But I just managed to win so I’m really happy, and the effort of the team has not been for nothing.

“Every Grand Tour win is always a special one, and it’s never easy. You suffer a lot of days in the mountains to get here. From now on it’s going to be a tough Vuelta, but with the win, that always makes it a bit more easy.”

General classification leader Torstein Traeen (Bahrain Victorious) retained the red jersey and remains two minutes 33 seconds ahead of Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) with 13 stages to go.

Sunday’s stage is a 195km hilly ride from Alfaro to Valdezcaray.