Jhonatan Narváez gave UAE Team Emirates-XRG their third Giro d’Italia stage win of the week after a strong breakaway ride on stage eight.
The Ecuadorian national champion attacked with 9.8 kilometres remaining and went on to take his second stage win of this year’s race.
Narváez had spent much of the day in a long-range move with teammate Mikkel Bjerg and Andreas Leknessund of Uno-X Mobility.
The move began with 76km to race, when Narváez and Bjerg went clear from the bunch into a headwind. Leknessund later joined them, turning the break into the main move of the stage.
Behind them, UAE Team Emirates-XRG had Jan Christen and Igor Arrieta in the chasing group. Their presence made it harder for rival teams to organise a clean chase.
By the final 30km, it was clear the winner would come from the front three.
Bjerg then made the key move for his teammate. With 10.7km left, the Dane attacked and forced Leknessund to respond. Narváez countered soon after and finally broke clear with 9.8km to go.
The final kilometres into Fermo still left him with work to do. Narváez had to manage several steep climbs before crossing the line 32 seconds ahead of Leknessund.
Martin Tjøtta, also of Uno-X Mobility, finished third at 42 seconds.
“I think he was the man of the day, Mikkel Bjerg.”
Narváez said Bjerg’s work had been decisive.
“It was a nice stage for me,” Narváez said. “I was really good in the first part, but I think we played really well with my teammates.”
“I think he was the man of the day, Mikkel Bjerg. If you see him, he is always working for the team. He is a guy who you always see, and he is a guy who does a lot for the team. He was the man of the day, for me.”
Narváez also said the result meant more after his injury earlier this year.
“For sure, it is important for me, even coming from the injury in January,” he said. “We have only five guys left in the race, but we play well, we play smart, there is a great atmosphere in the team, so I think there are still more victories for us in the next weeks.”
Afonso Eulálio of Bahrain-Victorious remains top of the general classification after stage eight. Jonas Vingegaard is second at 3 minutes 15 seconds, with Felix Gall third at 3:34.
Elsewhere, Benoît Cosnefroy remains second overall at the Tour de Hongrie heading into Sunday’s final stage.
Cosnefroy, riding for UAE Team Emirates-XRG, finished fifth on stage four after the day’s final lap in Pecs was cancelled because of poor weather.
Jakob Söderqvist of Lidl-Trek won the stage and moved into the overall lead. He goes into the final day 40 seconds ahead of Cosnefroy.
Adrià Pericas, also of UAE Team Emirates-XRG, sits seventh overall at 1:21.
