Narváez plays breakaway perfectly to seal stunning hat-trick on Giro stage 11

Jhonatan Narváez (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) completed a hat-trick of stage wins on stage 11 of the Giro d’Italia in Chiavari. 

The Ecuadorian champion followed up his previous sprint and solo triumphs with another masterclass from the day's breakaway.

Making a select group, Narváez was the only rider able to follow the accelerations of Enric Mas (Movistar) on the final climb to the Red Bull KM inside the final 20km.

In the end, the duo would battle it out on the run-in to Chiavari, and Narváez duly delivered on his favourite status, outsprinting the Spaniard to victory. Diego Ulissi (XDS-Astana) rounded out the stage podium in third. 

The result cements his status as the most dominant stage hunter of this year's Giro so far, with three wins and also marks his fifth career victory at the Italian Grand Tour.

Although the breakaway contested the victory, the peloton maintained a fierce pace behind. In the end, a reduced peloton crossed the line 3:24 adrift, leaving the top of the general classification unchanged.

With the route ahead, many anticipated that it could be a day for the breakaway. This was reflected in the relentless fight to get up the road from the flag drop in Porcari. 

A group of 15 riders formed, including Jasper Stuyven (Soudal Quick-Step), Davide Ballerini and Christian Scaroni (XDS Astana) and Giulio Ciccone (Lidl-Trek). The group established an advantage of around 30 seconds, but there were too many unsatisfied riders in the chase, and the group was eventually brought back.

Shortly after, Ballerini suffered a crash, and the Italian, despite his best efforts to continue, was forced to abandon the race.

The next significant move saw 11 riders go clear: Edward Planckaert (Alpecin-Premier Tech), Chris Harper (Pinarello-Q36.5), Nico Denz and Aleksandr Vlasov (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe), Stuyven, Mattia Bais and Ludovico Crescioli (Polti VisitMalta), Markus Hoelgaard and Andreas Leknessund (Uno-X Mobility), Alberto Bettiol and Diego Ulissi (XDS Astana). 

Attacks continued to fly from behind, and with 100km to go, Enric Mas (Movistar) broke clear of the peloton. The Spaniard would be joined by Lennert van Eetvelt (Lotto-Intermarché), and the duo would make it across to the breakaway. 

Scaroni, Filippo Zana (Soudal Quick-Step), Brieuc Rolland (Groupama-FDJ United), Warren Barguil (Picnic PostNL), Alessandro Tonelli (Polti VisitMalta), Martin Marcellusi (Bardiani CSF 7 Saber), and Jhonatan Narváez (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) were also in pursuit of the front group. 

Narváez managed to impressively bridge a 40-second gap solo to the front group on the lower slopes of the Passo del Termine with 84km to go. The chasers would also make the bridge to the front before the climb’s summit. 

Following Passo del Termine, there were 17 riders at the front of the race with 79km remaining. Planckaert and the Uno-X Mobility duo Leknessund and Hoelgaard had been distanced.

The breakaway split on the slopes of the Colle di Guaitarola with 66km remaining after an acceleration from Ulissi. Mas and Harper were able to follow initially, before Barguil, Bais, Crescioli, and Narváez also bridged across. 

There was a further selection after Mas attacked with 63km remaining, with only Mas and Harper responding.

Scaroni and Zana returned to the second group, and an injection of energy in the chase saw the front trio caught. Van Eetvelt also bridged back to the front of the race, as did Stuyven and Vlasov. 

Van Eetvelt, Scaroni and Zana then suffered a crash on the descent with 40km remaining. The crash also caused a split in the break, with Stuyven, Narváez and Vlasov opening a gap which was eventually bridged by those who avoided crashing. 

Ulissi jumped with 29.6km to go, with Harper responding alongside Narváez, Mas and Vlasov. Crescioli joined the quartet over the summit, and the wounded Scaroni battled valiantly behind, trying to close the gap. 

On the final climb to the Red Bull KM, Scaroni was closing in on the front group. Unfortunately for the Italian, it was at the exact moment that Mas attacked with 16.5km remaining, as Narváez shadowed and Harper clawed his way across. 

Mas dug once again with 15km to go, distancing Harper, but he could not shake Narváez. Harper, Vlasov and Ulissi formed the chase behind, and the trio narrowed their deficit on the run-in to Chiavari to under 20 seconds, but it would prove to be too much work. 

Mas tried once more to shake Narváez off with 3.6km remaining, but it wasn't a fruitful effort, and Narváez delivered the expected outcome at the finish.