Two-time stage winner Esteban Chaves has recovered from a crash during stage eight of the Vuelta a Espana to retain the red leader’s jersey for another day.

Chaves was involved in a large crash with 50km to go that saw a number of big names forced to withdraw from the race. Fortunately, the Colombian managed to escape with only minor grazes.

Many of his ORICA-GreenEDGE teammates were also taken down in the same incident but recovered to wait for their leader. Damien Howson and Jens Keukeleire worked hard to pull Chaves back to the front group whilst Daryl Impey and Cameron Meyer took positioning duties over the first climb and onto the second.

“It was very stressful, everyone wanted to be at the front,” Chaves said. “Then one Lotto Soudal rider fell in front of me after a roundabout. I think this rider is really bad and I want to say to him that I hope you recover really well.

"After a roundabout 50 km from the finish, two riders from Lotto-Soudal touched wheels and crashed. It seems that Boeckmans is seriously hurt. I hope he will be alright. I found myself on the tarmac but I was not hurt, it was only minor bruises. The life of a rider is made of those.

“After this the guys stayed with me and helped me get back to the first group. I started the climbs in the first group, the downhill was really dangerous, really small and in the final we keep the red jersey.

“I want to say again thank you to the boys and also to Neil (sport director), because Neil in the moment after the crash kept talking to me and when the big riders attacked he kept me calm.

"Neil Stephens kept talking to us in our earphones, it kept us calm. He has a knack of knowing what to say to keep me calm. I focused on my team-mates and that's how I managed my way back into the peloton. It's the way I'm going to keep the jersey. The longer the better…"

Sport director Neil Stephens credited the team’s ability to use their experience, not panic and make correct decisions on the road.

“The crash made a tricky finish even harder,” Stephens said. “Firstly, we lost riders out of our designated helpers and we also had to spend a lot of our energy getting him back.

“Rightly so, the bunch was riding for the stage win. They didn’t back off the pace when he crashed but they weren’t trying to attack Esteban and that is no problem at all.

“The team reassessed the situation and a number of decisions were made on the road that were all right ones – firstly Mat Hayman gave Esteban his wheel, the decision to ride full gas and leave poor Simon Gerrans still on the side of the road was the right call, then Cameron Meyer radioed back from the front bunch to ask if he should wait which I said no and finally Daryl (Impey) made the call on the last climb to give it everything to put Esteban in a good position.

“A lot of the calls come from the car but I’ll say it again, a lot of important calls come from the bike and every call and question made from the bike today was a good call so the boys - physically and tactically - rode very well.”