BREAKING NEWS: Narváez abandons the Giro d'Italia early on stage 19 after ‘Ecuadorian hit the bus’

Jhonatan Narváez has abandoned the Giro d'Italia. The Ecuadorian of UAE Team Emirates-XRG lit up the Giro d’Italia with attacking racing and won no fewer than three stages, but things have gone less well for him in recent days. He abandoned in the opening phase of stage 19, which means the team must now continue with only four riders in the final stages.

UAE Team Emirates-XRG began the Giro d’Italia in the most unfortunate way possible. In stage 2 in Bulgaria, almost the entire team came down hard in a wet descent. Marc Soler and Jay Vine broke a lot of bones, and leader Adam Yates also had to abandon after suffering a concussion. The Emirates squad had to continue with a new mission.

And that mission got off to a rocket start as soon as the race entered Italy. Narváez won stage 4 in a thinned-out bunch sprint. The fun did not end there, because Igor Arrieta also won two stages. Later in the second week, Narváez struck again twice. Injured or not, UAE Team Emirates-XRG were ruling the stages where the breakaways were supposed to decide things.

With his attacking style, the little all-rounder even rode himself into the purple points jersey. But in recent days he has been a bit below his earlier Giro level. On paper, stage 18 was made for him, but on the final, difficult climb he could not follow the best riders. He played no role in the sprint, which meant winner Paul Magnier would take back the points jersey. After the finish, RAI also reported that he had hit the bus.

That he was suffering became clear early in stage 19. The Ecuadorian champion was immediately visible at the back of the peloton and dropped back towards the team car. Mechanical issue? No, it turned out simply to be a case of not being able to continue: later the news came through that Narváez would abandon. UAE Team Emirates-XRG will have to see out the final three days with Arrieta, Mikkel Bjerg, Jan Christen and António Morgado — four riders in total.