While all eyes were on Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) in the race for the maglia rosa atop the summit of Pila on stage 14, Jhonatan Narváez (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) was quietly collecting points in his bid to overtake Paul Magnier (Soudal-QuickStep) in the hunt for the maglia ciclamino.
Narváez has won three stages of this Giro d'Italia in Cosenza, Fermo and Chiavari and went into stage 14 just 11 points behind maglia ciclamino Magnier, who won two stages in Burgas and Sofia.
“Yes, the truth is we knew it would not be easy, but that it was possible to take the jersey because [Soudal-QuickStep] had a difficult day to control on the first climb. It will be nice to wear it, and we will see what we can do in the final week," Narváez said in a post-race interview in the mixed zone posted on CyclingProNet.
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Cyclingnews spoke with Narváez at the start of the race in Aosta, where he revealed that he would try to win the intermediate sprint in Roisan, located 54km into the 133km stage to Pila.
"It will be hard, but I think that if I want to get it, it will come. There are still hard stages to come, so let's see how it goes. I can try to take more points in the stages ahead. Let's see what happens," Narváez said.
"I don't mind about the future stages too much, I just worry about each day. I will fight for it anyway."
Narváez did exactly as planned on stage 14 and took 12 points by winning the sprint in Roisan, surpassing Magnier by one point in the standings.
“It really feels good. I feel proud. Every achievement is important to me. I think not many riders can wear this jersey here at the Giro d’Italia, and I am proud to wear it at this moment," he said.
Cyclingnews also spoke with Magnier in Aosta, who said he would be watching Narváez closely in the battle for points, noting the Ecuadorian's capabilities across the moderate-to-mountain stages.
"Yeah, for sure, these are the types of stages that he can take points for the jersey; this is his advantage. If he takes some points on the mountain stages, I can't do anything. It's a super hard stage [to Pila], but in the end, there is not much I can do," Magnier told Cyclingnews.
"I also have my team for the sprints for tomorrow, so I don't really mind. I will be able to take some points again tomorrow, but I don't really mind. It's super nice to race in the ciclamino jersey, and so I hope I can keep it for as long as possible."
Magnier will no longer be wearing the maglia ciclamino jersey on the stage 15 start line in Voghera; that jersey is now on the shoulders of Narváez. But he will likely take it back, given the points available at the finish line of the sprint-friendly race into Milan.
"I try to take it day-by-day, today is a really tough day, and we need to survive and try to think about tomorrow, but the most important thing is to survive today and try to be as fresh as possible,' Magnier said.
Asked if he believes he can reclaim the maglia ciclamino from Narváez and carry it into Rome, Magnier said, "No, it's still a super long way. I could be sick or crash, and I could also not be there in the sprint, so there are many possibilities. The goal is to keep it for as long as possible and enjoy every day in this super nice kit."
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