The 2012 Giro d'Italia has ended its three-day ride through the medium mountains and Garmin-Barracuda's Ryder Hesjedal still wears the maglia rosa after capturing it on Saturday. He finished 27 seconds behind Domenico Pozzovivo on Sunday's Stage 8 course, good for third-best time on the day and a nine-second lead in the general classification.
Hesjedal's lead collapsed by six seconds on Sunday as a result of Joaquim Rodriguez Oliver finishing third on Sunday. Stage 7 winner Paolo Tiralongo is 15 seconds behind and in third place. No other race is within 35 seconds of Hesjedal.
Garmin's domination of the top 10 has disappeared over the last few stages and now contains only Hesjedal. Christian Vande Velde is currently in 17th place, trailing by 1:18. Peter Stetina comes in at 19th overall and 1:23 behind Hesjedal. The rest of the team is at least 45 minutes behind.
Here is a look the general classification standings after Stage 8 (complete standings here):
| Pos. | Name | Country | Team | Time | d |
| 1 | Ryder Hesjedal | CAN | GRM | 32:23:25 | 0:00 |
| 2 | Joaquim Rodriguez Oliver | ESP | KAT | 32:23:34 | 0:09 |
| 3 | Paolo Tiralongo | ITA | AST | 32:23:40 | 0:15 |
| 4 | Roman Kreuziger | CZE | AST | 32:24:00 | 0:35 |
| 5 | Benat Intxausti Elorriaga | ESP | MOV | 32:24:00 | 0:35 |
| 6 | Ivan Basso | ITA | LIQ | 32:24:05 | 0:40 |
| 7 | Damiano Caruso | ITA | LIQ | 32:24:10 | 0:45 |
| 8 | Dario Cataldo | ITA | OPQ | 32:24:11 | 0:46 |
| 9 | Frank Schleck | LUX | RNT | 32:24:13 | 0:48 |
| 10 | Eros Capecchi | ITA | LIQ | 32:24:17 | 0:52 |
For more on the 2012 Giro d'Italia, stick with SB Nation Denver and visit cycling blog Podium Cafe.