{"id":205390,"date":"2026-05-27T19:54:31","date_gmt":"2026-05-27T19:54:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/?p=205390"},"modified":"2026-05-27T19:54:31","modified_gmt":"2026-05-27T19:54:31","slug":"will-a-sprinter-win-the-giros-points-competition-or-will-narvaez-steal-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/2026\/05\/27\/will-a-sprinter-win-the-giros-points-competition-or-will-narvaez-steal-it\/","title":{"rendered":"Will a Sprinter Win the Giro\u2019s Points Competition or Will Narv\u00e1ez Steal It?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Before the Giro d\u2019Italia kicked off, the general consensus was that the only real suspense of the race would be wearing the Maglia Ciclamino<\/em>, or purple jersey, as the winner of the points classification when the race ends on May 31 in Rome.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Jonas Vingegaard<\/a> (Visma\u2013Lease a Bike) was the overwhelming favorite to wear the Maglia Rosa<\/em>, or pink jersey, as winner of the general classification, and he has lived up to everyone\u2019s expectations, winning four stages and amassing a lead of more than 4 minutes over the rider in second place, Felix Gall (Decathlon CMA CGM).<\/p>\n

It was generally believed that the race for the purple jersey would be between Jonathan Milan (Lidl-Trek), who won the points classification in all three Grand Tours he has entered, and 22-year-old Paul Magnier (Soudal Quick-Step), considered a future superstar.<\/p>\n

Magnier took a quick and substantial lead in the competition by winning stages 1 and 3. But everything changed after stage 4, which was won by Jhonatan Narv\u00e1ez (UAE Team Emirates\u2013XRG). The three-time Ecuadorian champion is not a sprinter. He is what is known in the sport as a puncheur<\/em>, or puncher, a good climber, but not good enough for the big mountains, and a fast sprinter, but not fast enough to beat a rider like Magnier in a sprint. But here he is, <\/strong>four days from the end of the race, and leading a contest that is almost always won by a sprinter.<\/p>\n

Category B stages and their influence<\/strong><\/h2>\n

To explain why, I first have to talk about stage classification. A Category A stage is a pure sprint stage because it is pancake-flat and almost always ends in a traditional bunch sprint. The winner of these stages is awarded 50 points; there are four such stages in this Giro.<\/a><\/p>\n

Category B stages are described as being \u201crolling sprint stages\u201d of \u201clow difficulty\u201d because they are supposed to feature minor rolling terrains and are therefore expected to end in a reduced or full bunch sprint. The winner of these stages is also awarded 50 points and there are also four such stages in the race. That makes a total of eight stages supposedly designed for sprinters.<\/p>\n

Then you have the so-called medium-mountain stages, which can also feature lots of rolling terrain as well as pretty difficult climbs and are therefore tailor-made for puncheurs<\/em> like Narv\u00e1ez because sprinters can\u2019t climb well and GC riders don\u2019t want to waste their energy on them. The winner of such a stage is awarded only 25 points. Now back to the race.<\/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