Alex Dowsett: How I won stage eight of the 2013 Giro d'Italia (video)

Dowsett talks us through his famous Grand Tour victory

(Image credit: Graham Watson)

In just his third year of his professional career and riding his first Grand Tour, Alex Dowsett took a famous victory on stage eight of the 2013 Giro d'Italia.

After helping his Movistar team to second in the team time trial on stage two, Dowsett was clearly in good form, but didn't know what to expect as he went into the 54.8km test against the clock having not pre-ridden the course.

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The pre-race favourite was Bradley Wiggins, and in the interview Dowsett reveals how his former Team Sky team-mate had given him a few tips going into the race, which he'd combined with his own ingenuity with an illegal Garmin to make sure that he wouldn't lost any time on the unfamiliar course.

In the end, despite losing time on the final climb to the finish, Dowsett would hold on to take the biggest victory of his career, leaving Wiggins in second place by 10 seconds.

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Henry Robertshaw began his time at Cycling Weekly working with the tech team, writing reviews, buying guides and appearing in videos advising on how to dress for the seasons. He later moved over to the news team, where his work focused on the professional peloton as well as legislation and provision for cycling. He's since moved his career in a new direction, with a role at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.