Giro d’Italia: Narváez Edges Mas for Third Stage Win; Eulálio Keeps Pink Jersey

PORCARI, Italy (AP) — Ecuador’s Jhonatan Narváez out-sprinted Spain’s Enric Mas at the finish of Stage 11 on Wednesday to claim his third victory of this year’s Giro d’Italia, while Afonso Eulálio retained the overall leader’s pink jersey.

Narváez (UAE Team Emirates XRG) and Mas (Movistar) broke away from the leading group on the final climb, where Mas launched the first attack. The Ecuadorean responded, overtaking the Spaniard just before the line. Italy’s Diego Ulissi (XDS Astana) took third place in what proved to be an entertaining 195-kilometer stage from Porcari to Chiavari.

“Mas was the strongest in the climb and I knew I had to play my game, I just tried to defend myself on the uphill,” Narváez said. “I was scared because when he did the sprint he almost closed me on the barriers and I was on the limit, but it was full gas racing all day, because we don’t race just in the uphills, we race on the downhills also?”

The general classification remained unchanged, with Portugal’s Eulálio holding a 27-second lead over race favorite Jonas Vingegaard. The first half of the stage offered numerous chances for breakaways before the riders reached the first of three categorized climbs.

Early attacks were reeled in, and the group that eventually escaped grew in size as others chased from the peloton. The race settled on the second climb, where a 12-man group established a lead of more than three minutes over the main pack.

A crash on the descent took down three of the leaders, and the breakaway began to splinter. On an uncategorized climb before the finish, Mas attacked and Narváez followed. Unable to shake the Ecuadorean on the descent, Mas faced a sprint finish where Narváez was always the favorite.

Mas, a three-time runner-up in the Vuelta a España, is out of overall contention but was desperate for a stage win on his Giro debut. The victory was Narváez’s fifth career Giro stage win.

The peloton, containing all general classification contenders, finished more than three minutes behind. Eulálio (Bahrain Victorious) will wear the pink jersey again Thursday in Stage 12, a flat 175-kilometer ride from Imperia to Novi Ligure.