{"id":205370,"date":"2026-05-22T10:23:56","date_gmt":"2026-05-22T10:23:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/?p=205370"},"modified":"2026-05-22T11:17:55","modified_gmt":"2026-05-22T11:17:55","slug":"narvaez-strikes-again-as-vingegaards-form-is-questioned","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/2026\/05\/22\/narvaez-strikes-again-as-vingegaards-form-is-questioned\/","title":{"rendered":"Narv\u00e1ez Strikes Again as Vingegaard\u2019s Form Is Questioned"},"content":{"rendered":"

Jhonatan Narv\u00e1ez won his third stage of the Giro d\u2019Italia, the fourth victory in this race by a depleted UAE Team Emirates\u2013XRG squad, while pre-race favourite Jonas Vingegaard (Visma\u2013Lease a Bike) continues to raise questions about his form.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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\u201cTerrible\u201d time trial?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

It\u2019s not that, barring accident or illness, the Dane will not win the Giro.<\/a> He will, but he finished 13th on Tuesday\u2019s 42 km time trial, 3 minutes behind the winner, Filippo Ganna (Netcompany INEOS), and 1:06 behind GC rival, and Ganna\u2019s teammate, Thymen Arensman. Not that this put his position in the GC in danger, for he still led Arensman, his nearest rival in the standings, by 1:30, with Felix Gall, who lived down to expectations in the time trial, now in fourth, 1:57 behind Vingegaard.<\/p>\n

But they all still trailed the surprise race leader, Afonso Eul\u00e1lio (Bahrain Victorious), who continued to be brave and resistant while making a lot of people in his home country, Portugal, very happy.<\/p>\n

As for Vingegaard, he was not happy with his ITT performance. Or was he? \u201cTerrible,\u201d he said, but with a laugh. \u201cIt was terrible. It was a long, flat time trial, which isn\u2019t my speciality. I\u2019ve never been very good at flat efforts. To be honest, I think I got through it reasonably well.\u201d So, he was talking about the race, not his performance. He went on to say, \u201cI think a completely flat time trial like this suits the slightly bigger riders. The more power you have, the better.\u201d<\/p>\n

And he remained positive. \u201cI think I\u2019m in a good position,\u201d he declared. \u201cI\u2019m close to the pink jersey, and it would have been nice to have it already. Every day in a leader\u2019s jersey is a pleasure and something to be happy about. I think I\u2019m in a good spot.\u201d He is.<\/p>\n

As for Ganna, he was delighted to finally ride an ITT that suited his power, for it was the longest Giro d’Italia\u00a0ITT\u00a0in more than 10 years. He beat his second-place teammate Arensman by 1:54, with R\u00e9mi Cavagna (Groupama\u2013FDJ United) finishing third at 1:59. In other words, total dominance.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt’s really nice, with a long TT like this,\u201d he said. \u201cI really like it. I’m really happy to finally find a good TT for me, without a climb.\u201d And he\u2019s looking forward to poaching more stages, especially Friday\u2019s stage 13, which finishes in his home town of Verbania. \u201cFrom today starts another Giro for Filippo,\u201d Filippo said. \u201cNow we want another victory in a [road stage]. Why not try Friday for me \u2013 as well as another stage, obviously if it’s less than 4,000 meters [of climbing].\u201d<\/p>\n

That man Narv\u00e1ez again<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The biggest move on Wednesday\u2019s stage 11, which was always going to favour a breakaway, came with about 84 km left to ride in the 195 km course from Porcaris to Chiavari, when Narv\u00e1ez made his way to the lead group. On a day of high-speed racing and multiple attacks and counter-attacks, as well as some 2,800 meters of climbing, that move changed the day\u2019s narrative. The front group managed to hold off all pursuers and came into the final 20 km reduced to five riders, due to a crash, and with a lead of 2:53 over the peloton.<\/p>\n

In addition to Movistar\u2019s Enric Mas and Narv\u00e1ez, the group contained Diego Ulissi (XDS Astana), Chris Harper (Pinarello Q36.5) and Aleksandr Vlasov (Red Bull\u2013BORA\u2013hansgrohe). Mas attacked 16.5 kmfrom the finish, on an uncategorised climb (4.6 km @ 6.4%), and only Narv\u00e1ez and Harper were able to go with him. \u00a0But Harper was dropped when Mas accelerated again.<\/p>\n

The three-time Ecuadorian champion had to work hard to stay with Mas, who is the superior climber. As Narv\u00e1ez put it after the stage, \u201cEnric Mas was the strongest in the climb, and I knew I had to play my game. I always remember a book I was reading, which said [that] if you don’t have your game, just make your own game. You won’t see Michael Phelps running, he’s a specialist in the pool. And I just tried to defend myself in the uphills.\u201d<\/p>\n

He defended brilliantly and then easily defeated the Spaniard in the two-man sprint. But it was a hard-fought victory. \u201cI was scared because [Mas] almost tried to close me in the barriers, and I was on the limit,\u201d Narv\u00e1ez said about the final sprint.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll day it was full-gas racing. Not just in the uphill, but the downhill also. When we started, we said we have to jump in the breakaway because it’s our goal. Then we missed the first group, then we missed the second group, then, after two hours of hard racing, I tried to jump straight to the breakaway. This was difficult.\u201d<\/p>\n

But he has made his mark on this race, as has his team, which responded brilliantly to the stage 2 crash that eliminated three of its principal riders. Narv\u00e1ez\u2019s performance is all the more remarkable because the Giro is his first race since January, when he crashed in the Tour Down Under, sustaining serious spinal injuries and a concussion.<\/p>\n

Bahrain Victorious wins the stage and stays in pink<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Thursday\u2019s stage 12, another race of constant attacking and high speeds, was a special one for Bahrain Victorious, which won the stage through a bold late move by Alec Segaert and held on to the race leader\u2019s pink jersey, as the unheralded Eul\u00e1lio continued to impress with his courage and suborn resistance; he even added 6 seconds to his lead over Vingegaard<\/a> by winning the Red Bull KM sprint. He now leads the Dane by 33 seconds, with Arensman in third at 2:03.<\/p>\n

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Zobrazit p\u0159\u00edsp\u011bvek na Instagramu<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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P\u0159\u00edsp\u011bvek sd\u00edlen\u00fd Giro d’Italia (@giroditalia)<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n