A particularly thrilling and gripping stage brought the Giro d'Italia caravan back to the roads of the Peninsula. Jhonathan Narvaez (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) won the Catanzaro-Cosenza stage of 138 kilometers, at the end of a day that saw pink jersey Thomas Silva (XDS Astana) struggle on the Cozzo Tunno climb. Narvaez was able to outsprinting a group of around forty riders selected along the slopes of the day's only climb by Movistar's Orluis Aular, who finished second in the sprint.
Third was the very active Giulio Ciccone (Lidl-Trek) who, thanks to the bonus seconds won at the Red Bull KM and at the finish, jumped to the overall lead with 4 seconds over Jan Christen (UAE Team Emirates-XRG), Florian Stork (Tudor) and Egan Bernal (Netcompany INEOS), who saved himself with the help of his teammates after appearing in serious difficulty in the second half of the stage.
Wilco Keldermann (an important gregario for Jonas Vingegaard at Visma Lease a Bike) did not start, and the group set off from Catanzaro driven by intense wind gusts that did not discourage Darren Rafferty (EF Education Easypost), Niklas Larsen (Unibet Rose Rockets), Warren Barguil (Picnic PostNL), Mattia Bais (Polti VisitMalta), Johan Jacobs (Groupama FDJ United) and Martin Marcellusi (Bardiani CSF 7 Saber), who quickly broke away.
Proceeding in good agreement, the six managed to extend their advantage over a group that, after registering the mid-race withdrawal of Kaden Groves (Alpecin-Premier Tech) and touching 2'27" of deficit on two occasions, closed the gap to 1'22" at the San Lucido sprint (1st Bais) thanks to the work of Decathlon CMA CGM and XDS Astana riders.
The latter, attacking the Cozzo Tunno climb, handed over to Movistar's riders led by Orluis Aular who, with a relentless pace and especially a superb Lorenzo Milesi, caused the group to explode, triggering the collapse not only of pure sprinters (Groenewgen, Milan, Magnier, Andresen, Vernon, Ackermann) and those more resistant like Corbin Strong (NSN) but also, surprisingly, pink jersey Thomas Silva (XDS Astana) and some men in contention for the final podium like Egan Bernal (Netcompany INEOS).
At the summit, therefore, just under forty riders made up the main group which, still driven by the Spanish team's riders, maintained a high pace even on the descent to try to prevent the return of riders dropped on the climb (and a Derek Gee temporarily sidelined by a mechanical issue), but the mission only partially succeeded because, at 16.5 km from the finish, the Canadian national champion and Matteo Sobrero (Lidl-Trek), Filippo Zana and Andrea Raccagni Noviero (Soudal Quick-Step), Ben Turner and Egan Bernal (Netcompany INEOS) managed to rejoin.
Strong with these six additional riders, the leading group went on to contest first the bonus seconds available at the Red Bull KM (1st Christen, 2nd Pellizzari, 3rd Ciccone) and then the partial victory at the Cosenza finish where, after thwarting Christen's attack at 1,700 meters, Aular squandered his teammates' great work by launching too early in the sprint on the final straightaway, thus opening the door for Narvaez's return. With determination, he secured his sixteenth career victory, the second at the Giro d'Italia after the one he achieved in Turin two years ago.
Ciccone also celebrates with him, as the bonus seconds give him an enormous satisfaction by putting on his shoulders the first pink jersey of his career, a symbol long dreamed of that the Abruzzese will have to work hard to defend tomorrow in the Praia a Mare-Potenza stage of 203 kilometers, a fraction with more than one pitfall in the finale that could favor both a long-range breakaway and attacks from some of the big names.
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1. Jhonatan Narváez (ECU/UAE Team Emirates-XRG) - 3:08:46
2. Orluis Aular (VEN/Movistar) - s.t.
3. Giulio Ciccone (ITA/Lidl-Trek) - s.t.
4. Ben Turner (GBR/Netcompany INEOS) - s.t.
5. Alessandro Pinarello (ITA/NSN Cycling) - s.t.
6. Afonso Eulálio (POR/Bahrain-Victorious) - s.t.
7. Lennert van Eetvelt (BEL/Lotto Intermarché) - s.t.
8. Diego Ulissi (ITA/XDS Astana) - s.t.
9. Andrea Raccagni Noviero (ITA/Soudal Quick-Step) - s.t.
10. Michael Valgren (DAN/EF Education-EasyPost) - s.t.
1. Giulio Ciccone (ITA/Lidl-Trek) - 16:18:51
2. Jan Christen (SUI/UAE Team Emirates-XRG) at 0:04
3. Florian Stork (GER/Tudor Pro Cycling) at 0:04
4. Egan Bernal (COL/Netcompany Ineos) at 0:04
5. Thymen Arensman (NED/Netcompany-Ineos) at 0:06
6. Giulio Pellizzari (ITA/Red Bull-Bora) at 0:06
7. Lennert van Eetvelt (BEL/Lotto-Intermarché) at 0:10
8. Enric Mas (SPA/Movistar) at 0:10
9. Markel Beloki (SPA/EF Education-EasyPost) at 0:10
10. Jan Hirt (CZE/NSN Cycling) at 0:10
OTHER CLASSIFICATIONS
Points Classification: Paul Magnier (FRA/Soudal Quick-Step)
Mountains Classification: Diego Pablo Sevilla (SPA/Polti VisitMalta)
Best Young Rider Classification: Jan Christen (SUI/UAE Team Emirates-XRG)
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