All-action Narváez makes unexpected contest of Giro points classification

The winning of the points classification of the Giro d’Italia is in many days, day after day, but stage 12 to Novi Ligure had the feel of a tipping point in the contest for the maglia ciclamino.

Paul Magnier has carried the jersey since Bulgaria after notching up two wins in the first three days of the Giro, and at that point, the competition looked set to be a straight duel between the Soudal Quick-Step rider and two-time winner Jonathan Milan (Lidl-Trek).

When Magnier performed a minor miracle to pick his way through the carnage and finish third in the fraught Naples finale a week ago, it looked as if the Frenchman had placed a hefty downpayment on final victory. 

Milan was forced to a complete halt by the same crash, and at day’s end, Magnier already had more than double his rival’s points tally. The points classification was suddenly starting to seem less like a duel and more like a foregone conclusion.

Over the past week, however, Magnier and Milan have both failed to add so much as a single point to their respective tallies. Magnier is still on 130 and Milan is stuck on 64, while a new and hitherto unexpected player has entered a game that was supposedly reserved for the sprinters.

Jhonatan Narváez has been arguably the most outstanding performer of this Giro to date, racking up three stage wins across a variety of terrains while doing more or less as he pleases, and the UAE Team Emirates-XRG rider is suddenly firmly in the hunt for the maglia ciclamino, whether he intended it or not.

Thanks to those wins in Cosenza, Fermo and Chiavari, Narváez had already moved up to second place in the points standings ahead of stage 12, but the long run from the Ligurian coast to the heart of Fausto Coppi country was expected to tilt the balance back in the favour of Magnier, the ascents of the Colle Giovo and Bric Berton notwithstanding.

But the pure sprinter is increasingly an endangered species in the Grand Tours. Until relatively recently, the Giro used to offer some very fertile terrain for the fast men. Mario Cipollini holds the all-time record for stage wins, after all, while Alessandro Petacchi notched up nine wins in a single Giro back in 2004. 

In the WorldTour era, the quota of sprint finishes steadily began to diminish, and in the supersonic 2020s, even days that might notionally have been bracketed as a bunch finish can very quickly morph into something else altogether. That was again the case here.

Like on the road to Cosenza on stage 4, Movistar sensed an opportunity for their man Orluis Aular here, and they set a fierce tempo at the head of the bunch at Bric Berton in a bid to burn off the likes of Magnier, Milan and Dylan Groenewegen (Rose Rockets).

As in Cosenza, they succeeded in the first part of their endeavour, even if Aular would have to settle for sixth in Novi Ligure. In the mixed zone afterwards, Magnier questioned Movistar’s decision to race on behalf of the Venezuelan champion. “I don’t know if they did it for the show or if it was really to try to win the stage,” he complained.

Whatever the motive, as in Cosenza, it proved a boon to Narváez. Magnier was long distanced as the front group rattled towards Novi Ligure, and Narváez suddenly had a chance to take the maglia ciclamino from his shoulders: a place in the top three would do it. 

The flat finale didn’t suit him as well as Cosenza, of course, and there were more fast finishers left in contention here too, but Narváez’s form has been unimpeachable on this Giro and that remained the case here. He came through to take eighth on the stage, and the eight points he collected bring his tally to 119, just 11 down on Magnier.

The points are weighted in favour of the sprint stages, of course, and so Magnier will have chances to score the maximum 50 points in Milan on stage 15 and in Rome on the final day. But Narváez, an all-terrain threat, looks capable of scoring points just about anywhere the mood takes him outside of those nailed-on bunch sprints.

In the manner of Laurent Jalabert in his pomp, Narváez has happened upon the perfect formula for success at this Giro. He climbs better than most riders who sprint faster than him, and he sprints faster than just about anyone who climbs better than him.

Those twin qualities were on full display on the road to Chiavari on Wednesday, when he bridged up to the break with disarming ease, before dealing comfortably with Enric Mas on the climbs and then dispatching him with a minimum of fuss in the sprint.

That brought up a rare kind of Grand Tour hat-trick, given that sprinters, GC men and even time triallists are far more likely to win multiple stages than a generalist like Narváez. But the Ecuadorian has complete freedom of movement after crashes eliminated UAE’s GC leaders and he also seems to be in something close to the form of his life.

The climb to Ungiasca in the finale of stage 13 to Verbania already looks like an open invitation for Narváez to chase a fourth win on this Giro. And whether he’s really aiming for it or not, Narváez is now firmly in the mix for the maglia ciclamino.