Giro 2026: Narváez gives troubled UAE first stage win, Ciccone takes pink jersey

Jhonatan Narváez won the fourth stage of the 2026 Giro d'Italia. The Ecuadorian was the fastest in the sprint after a tough finale in which Movistar broke up the peloton. Narváez beat Orluis Aular and Giulio Ciccone. The latter is also a big winner, as the Italian became the new wearer of the pink jersey.

In the fourth stage of the Giro d’Italia – the first on Italian soil – anything could happen. The strong sprinters had marked this stage as a possible chance for a win, but the attackers in the peloton were eager to prevent that. The stage was particularly difficult to predict. The only climb of the day, the Cozzo Tuno (14.4 km at 5.9%), was likely to provide some excitement.

Breakaway with Barguil and Larsen
Unlike the previous days, it took a while before a breakaway was allowed space by the peloton. After some half-hearted attempts, six riders managed to build a nice lead. The names? Warren Barguil (Picnic PostNL), Niklas Larsen (Rose Rockets), Martin Marcellusi (Bardiani CSF 7 Saber), Johan Jacobs (Groupama-FDJ United), Mattia Bais (Team Polti VisitMalta), and Darren Rafferty (EF Education-EasyPost).

The lead of these six attackers quickly grew to about two minutes, but this was immediately the maximum advantage, as XDS Astana was not prepared to give up the pink leader’s jersey so easily to Rafferty, the best-placed rider in the breakaway. The team of Thomas Guillermo Silva kept the leaders in check, so a regrouping was anticipated.

Groves calls it quits
Meanwhile, a ninth rider had to pull out. Kaden Groves had been struggling since his crash in the opening stage with physical issues and was unable to continue. A significant setback for Groves – who is experiencing a tough season – and for Alpecin-Premier Tech, which now has to continue without its sprinter and designated finisher.

The leaders did not let this affect them and reached the foot of the Cozzo Tuno with about sixty kilometers to go. The attackers’ lead had meanwhile shrunk to less than a minute, and it kept getting smaller as the entire peloton rallied. Movistar saw an excellent opportunity to thin out the peloton on the climb, working for Orluis Aular, and pushed the pace hard.

Movistar pushes on; sprinters, pink jersey, and Bernal drop out
The high tempo set by Movistar dropped several fast riders. Among those who couldn’t keep up were Tobias Lund Andresen, Dylan Groenewegen, Jonathan Milan, and purple jersey Paul Magnier. Not only that: leader Silva also failed to hold on, putting the pink jersey at risk again. The Uruguayan was just one of many riders who had to let go under Movistar’s race aggression.

The Spanish squad pushed so hard that the peloton was whittled down into an elite group of about forty riders near the top of Cozzo Tuno. A notable absence from this group was Egan Bernal. The 2021 Giro winner and third in the general classification had a very bad day and had to drop back, but in the flatter kilometers toward the finale, his teammate Ben Turner helped bring him back up front.

Christen makes the best move at the intermediate sprint
This happened a few kilometers before the Red Bull sprint, where important bonus seconds were at stake, but Bernal chose not to get involved in the sprint battle. Jan Christen did put his nose in the wind and raced to the six extra seconds, ahead of Giulio Pellizzari and Giulio Ciccone, who collected four and two seconds respectively. Christen and Ciccone made a strong move for the pink jersey, but the total of stage results would have to decide.

In the final kilometers, there were no more attacks, so the stage set up for a sprint for the win and the leader’s jersey. Although: with a last-ditch effort in the penultimate kilometer, Christen still tried a surprise attack. The rider from UAE Emirates XRG managed to open a gap, but it was not enough for a shock victory.

Narváez and Ciccone strike
In the final sprint, Aular launched from very far out. Too far, it turned out, as in the last hundred meters the Venezuelan was passed by Narváez. The Ecuadorian champion gave UAE Emirates XRG – who had been troubled by several abandonments in recent days – a very welcome first stage win. Aular could not finish the job for his Movistar teammates and came second, ahead of Ciccone, who took over the pink jersey.

Watch the final sprint here:

🚴🇮🇹 | Jhonatan Narvaez brings light to the darkness at UAE. After a very entertaining stage, he takes the victory. And is the pink really Ciccone’s? 👚 #GirodItalia

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— Eurosport Nederland (@Eurosport_NL) May 12, 2026