Narváez dedicates Giro stage 4 win to teammates after comeback from injury

Narváez won the reduced sprint into Cosenza on Tuesday after the 138km stage from Catanzaro was split apart on the Cozzo Tunno. He beat Orluis Aular and Giulio Ciccone at the finish, while Ciccone’s third place was enough to move him into the maglia rosa.

The 29-year-old had not raced since crashing at the Tour Down Under in January. He spent much of the spring recovering and training at altitude in Ecuador before returning to competition at the Giro.

“I think it’s really big for me, this victory here coming from three months training in Ecuador,” Narváez said in his flash interview. “I want to send thanks to my family, my wife, my team, they’ve been a great support in this time.”

The win also carried added significance for UAE after a difficult start to the race. The team lost Marc Soler and Jay Vine following the major crash on stage 2, while Adam Yates did not start stage 3 after later developing concussion symptoms. That left UAE with just five riders still in the race.

“This victory is also for my teammates,” Narváez said. “They crashed in stage two. They’ve been working for a while to come here in good condition, and finally we take the victory today.”

UAE had another card to play in the finale, with Jan Christen attacking from the reduced front group with 1.6km to go and briefly putting himself into contention for the maglia rosa before being brought back inside the final kilometre.

“Jan is a great guy, he was trying to take the maglia rosa,” Narváez said. “He did a great final, and in the end for me, I was just waiting for the sprint.”

Christen said the move had been discussed over race radio, with the 21-year-old given licence to attack while Narváez waited behind for the sprint.

“We talked about it on the radio,” Christen said to CyclingPro.net. “I felt good, and if I went in the final two kilometres, there was a chance I could make it. If not, Jhonny could stay in the wheels and sprint. In the end, it worked out, so I’m really happy for him.”

For Christen, the result was another sign of UAE’s strength after a difficult start to the race.

“It was a great day for us,” he said. “We won the stage with Jhonny, which was the goal. We stayed together as a team and showed how strong we are. Now we keep going.”

The Swiss rider is now level on time in second overall, four seconds behind Giulio Ciccone, and said the pink jersey is already close enough to think about.

“We’ll see,” Christen said. “It’s my first Giro and having the white jersey is already amazing. The pink jersey is very close, so we’ll see what happens in the next few days. We definitely want to try for another stage.”

Aular opened the sprint first on the uphill drag to the line, but Narváez carried speed through the final corner and surged past in the closing metres.

“I think I took the corner really good, 700 metres to go, and in the end it was just about the legs in the last straight,” he said.