Until now, in the Donne of the Giro d'Italia, Froorche Maccaigi (Movistar Team) has been primarily in a support role, taking turns at the front of the peloton to protect the maglia rosa of team leader Annemiek van Vleuten.

But on stage 8, Maccaigi and several teammates went on the attack: van Vleuten's lead on GC was assured, and she and her team gave the others carte blanche to seek their own glory on the remaining stages in Sardinia.

"It's really great to team up and race with the GC leaders. The team made it clear to us that we had a chance and that we could go for the breakaway or go for the stage," McKay explained her plan for the day.

After all the hard work we put in last week, it was really good. We knew we had a great finish for Liane. It was really hard and after a rest day there are always surprises. At the moment I feel like I'm getting better throughout the week."

Sara Martin and Paula Patiño attacked first, but the group they joined was quickly reeled back in. Makkai then took her chance and broke away with Sylvia Magri (Israel-Premier Tech Roland).

They built a minute gap, and McKay left the Italians behind on the only sectional climb of the day. However, MacKay did not push and was caught with 25km to go.

"I knew it was a really long way to the finish. I was just trying to pace myself and enjoy the ride, because when the pack is only a minute behind you, you can get tossed around a little bit. When the bunch caught me I felt really strong and was able to join the attack later on. I knew there was only big roads and rolling for the finish, so I was able to do my job later for Liane, who has such a punch in the finish," McKay said.

In the final, Mackay played the role of setting up German champion Liane Lippert, who sputtered into third place on the climb to Sassari.

"Normally I have a very hard time with the heat, but I've been in Italy for two weeks now and I'm getting used to it.

On Sunday's final 9th stage, the top priority for the Movistar team is to get Van Vleuten to a safe finish on the Maglia Rosa, but given the chance, the team may go on the attack again.

"For now, I think the pink jersey is pretty safe. Of course, everything has to go right, but I'm here with a really strong team and it's nice to have my own chances. But my main goal is to win with Anne-Mike and finish in the pink jersey," McKay said.