It may not have looked like it, but Narváez admits he was afraid of Mas

Jhonatan Narváez, who had already won twice in this year’s Giro d'Italia, added a third victory on Wednesday in Stage 11. The Ecuadorian positioned himself at the front after significant efforts and then seemed to easily outpace Enric Mas in the finale. However, the UAE Team Emirates rider admitted he had been afraid during the sprint.

Because Wednesday’s stage favored breakaways and attackers, there was a huge push to join the front group. This led to an insanely long and challenging opening, with a definitive break only forming after 2.5 hours of racing. Narváez was initially not in this group and had to bridge across himself.

When asked in theflash interview what he found the hardest part of the eleventh stage, Narváez answered immediately: “The entire day.” He explained: “In the team meeting on the bus, we decided our goal would be to get in the break today. We missed the first attempt and then missed the second one as well. After two hours of intense racing, I tried to jump to the front group in one go. I think that was very difficult.”

Narváez eventually joined a group of seventeen riders, where shifts occurred both uphill and downhill. “Enric Mas was the strongest on the climbs, so I knew I had to play my own game,” analyzed the winner. “He was stronger than me on the climbs, of course.”

Narváez reflected philosophically after the stage, citing a book he had read: if you can’t play your own game, make your own game. Simply put, he said: “I just tried to defend myself on the climbs.”

While the sprint against Mas looked effortless in the end, it was far from easy. “I was scared. I was so scared because he nearly pinned me against the barriers. I was also at my limit. It was really full gas all day. We race not only uphill but also in the descents,” concluded the winner of Stage 11.