Jhonatan Narváez (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) took his third stage victory of this year's Giro d'Italia on Wednesday, outsprinting Enric Mas (Movistar) to win a breathless stage 11 after both riders left a larger breakaway group behind. The win was UAE's fourth so far at this year's race, which has seen the team recalibrate to hunting stages after the squad's GC ambitions fell apart in the aftermath of a week one crash.
Diego Ulissi (XDS-Astana) finished third in Chiari on a day that saw relative calm among the GC favorites, who stayed together on the lumpy parcours just over three minutes behind the leaders.
[race_result id=13 stage_id=89975 count=5 gc=0 year=2026]
[race_result id=13 stage_id=89975 count=5 gc=5 year=2026]
How it happened
- The lumpy 195 km stage from Porcari to the seaside town of Chiavari had the look of a breakaway day, and that meant the fight to get into the move would be a fierce one. Over the course of the first hour, attacks and counterattacks – including from Narváez – saw would-be escapees earn small gaps only to be caught.
- Some 50 km into the day, Mattia Bais (Polti-Visit Malta), Chris Harper (Pinarello-Q36.5) and Andreas Leknessund (Uno-X Mobility) forged clear and found some breathing room before Ulissi and eight other riders bridged up to them to make for a 12-rider lead group. Neither Narváez nor Mas were in the breakaway at that point.
- UAE upped the tempo in the bunch to keep the move on a tight leash, and then riders started to attack out of the peloton trying to bridge. Mas got clear with just over 100 km to go and started working his way up the road, soon joined by Lennert Van Eetvelt (Lotto-Intermarché) in pursuit of the lead group.
- Narváez then made his own bid to bridge, drawing a few others with him. Before long, Mas and Van Eetvelt had made contact with the front of the race, while Narváez forged clear of his group in a solo chase, closing the distance remarkably quickly.
Did we do a good job with this story?
