Cycling: Jhonatan Narváez secured victory on the twelfth stage of the Giro d'Italia. The Ecuadorian was part of a large breakaway group and prevailed as a soloist against his former companions in the final kilometers.
204 kilometers starting and finishing in Cesenatico
As expected, the twelfth stage of the Giro d'Italia was a matter for the escapees. Immediately after the start, the battle for the group began. All teams wanted to be there. Finally, 14 professionals were able to break away from the main field and on the 204-kilometer course with start and finish in Cesenatico - the home of the deceased Marco Pantani – drive out a lead of well over ten minutes. So it was clear early on: Today's victory will go to a man in the breakaway group. It was only thanks to the speed work of the NTT team that the deficit could later be reduced in the pouring rain and in the freezing cold. But the breakaway group did not let the victory of the day be taken away.
14 riders in the breakaway
- Hector Carretero (Movistar)
- Albert Torres (Movistar)
- Simon Pellaud (Androni Giocattoli – Sidermec)
- Cesare Benedetti (Bora – hansgrohe)
- Francois Bidard (AG2R La Mondiale)
- Manuele Boaro (Astana)
- Mark Padun (Bahrain-McLaren)
- Joey Rosskopf (CCC)
- Jesper HansenCofidis
- Simon Clarke (EF)
- Victor Campenaerts (NTT)
- Jhonatan Narvaez (Ineos)
- Maximiliano Richeze (UAE)
- Etienne van Empel (Vini Zabu – KTM)
Narváez prevails against Padun
Due to the increased speed of the NTT team, many ranked riders were already isolated 60 kilometers from the finish. Meanwhile, have themselves in the top flight Jonathan Narvaez and Mark Padun can detach from their companions. When the Ukrainian suffered a puncture on a descent, the Ecuadorian continued alone. Since the other riders were too far away, this man against man duel now decided the stage win. And although Mark Padun could always see his opponent on long straights, he wasn't able to close the gap again in the last 15 kilometers. Jhonatan Narváez is celebrating the greatest success of his career so far at the age of 23. The classification riders no longer attacked each other on the last flat meters.
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