Giro d’Italia 2026 Stage 11 recap: In-form Jhonatan Narvaez beats Enric Mas in two-up sprint from breakaway to win third stage in style

Giro d'Italia

Stage 11 | Semi mountain | Men | 20.05.2026

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PorcariChiavari

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17:12

NARVAEZ COMPLETES HAT-TRICK WITH BREAKAWAY WIN OVER MAS IN STAGE 11

Ecuador’s Jhonathan Narvaez took his third victory of the Giro d’Italia - and a fourth triumph for UAE Team Emirates-XRG - by out-kicking Spain’s Enric Mas (Movistar) in a thrilling conclusion to Stage 11 in Chiavari on the Ligurian coast.

Narvaez and Mas were part of a stellar 17-man move that eventually came together on the first of three categorised climbs in the picturesque Cinque Terre national park.

Veteran climber Mas tried his best to distance his breakaway companions on the succession of punchy climbs - but the 31-year-old met his match in the in-form Narvaez, who clung on before showing his class on the flat dash to the line.

A third win for the 29-year-old saw him move to within 19 points of Frenchman Paul Magnier (Soudal Quick-Step) in the maglia ciclamino standings. As for the fabled pink jersey, Portugal’s Afonso Eulalio (Bahrain Victorious) came through his seventh day in the maglia rosa unscathed.

Eulalio finished comfortably in the main peloton over three minutes in arrears to retain his 27-second lead over Denmark’s Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike). The only major change in the general classification saw the Australian Chris Harper (Pinarello Q36.5 Pro Cycling) move up to 10th place after taking an impressive fourth in the exciting stage from Porcari in Tuscany.

Narvaez betters Mas in two-way sprint finish to clinch stage hat-trick

Video credit: TNT Sports

Narvaez was not present in an early move that included home favourite Giulio Ciccone (Lidl-Trek). In fact, Narvaez was also not involved in the next wave of attacks, when a solid nine-man chase group went clear in pursuit of a trio that finally established a gap after an hour of racing at breakneck speed.

Harper was one of the three riders alongside Italy’s Mattia Bais (Polti VisitMalta) and Norway’s Andreas Leknessund (Uno-X Mobility).

UAE Team Emirates-XRG sent their domestiques Mikkel Bjerg and Igor Arrieta - winner of Stage 5 - to the front to pave the way for Narvaez, who made his move with just over 80km remaining on the first categorised climb of the day, the Passo del Termine.

Narvaez made light work of closing the gap, and a 17-man break finally formed before Bais took the points over the summit.

Also in the move were Bais’ Polti VisitMalta team-mates Alessandro Tonelli and Ludovico Crescioli, three XDS Astana riders in Alberto Bettiol, Christian Scaroni and Diego Ulissi, two Red Bull-Bora Hansgrohe riders - Nico Denz and Aleksandr Vlasov - as well as Harper, Narvaez and Mas, along with Martin Marcellusi (Bardiani CSF 7 Sabre), Brieuc Rolland (Groupama-FDJ United), Lennert Van Eetvelt (Lotto Intermarche) and Soudal Quick-Step duo Jasper Stuyven and Filippo Zana.

With the gap back to the peloton growing to over three minutes, Bais took maximum points again over the Cat.2 Colle di Guaitarola before the breakaway exploded on the final climb, the Cat.3 Colla dei Scioli, where a select group of six riders formed following a string of attacks from Mas.

A crash on the descent saw Van Eetvelt, Scaroni and Zana fall back before Mas rode clear with Narvaez on the climb to the Red Bull KM sprint, with Vlasov, Harper, Ulissi and Crescioli in pursuit.

Breakaway dwindles as Zana, Scaroni and Van Eetvelt crash on descent - 'Not good at all'

Video credit: TNT Sports

Try as he might, Mas was unable to shake off his Ecuadorian shadow - and, despite leading out the sprint close to the barriers in Chiavari, Mas was unable to stop Narvaez from squeezing through the gap and taking another win in what is becoming a vintage Giro d’Italia for both him and his depleted UAE team.

And things could get even better for the man of the moment, since Thursday’s Stage 12 - with two lower category climbs in the final third - plays out over terrain that suits Narvaez to a tee.

17:09

UAE'S MAURO GIANETTI ALL SMILES AFTER TEAM'S FOURTH WIN

With three triumphs for Narvaez as well as Igor Arrieta's victory in Potenza, UAE have now won four out of 11 stages here on the Giro - not bad going considering they lost Adam Yates, Jay Vine and Marc Soler on the opening weekend...

Here's what the team manager Mauro Gianetti had to say at the finish.

Gianetti lauds Narvaez as 'example of resilience' amid inspired Giro form

Video credit: TNT Sports

16:41

NARVAEZ CREEPS CLOSER TO MAGNIER IN THE MAGLIA CICLAMINO BATTLE

After his third win, Ecuador’s Jhonatan Narvaez has become a dark horse for the maglia ciclamino competition, coming to within 19 points of the summit…

1. Paul Magnier 130pts
2. Jhonatan Narvaez 111pts
3. Jonathan Milan 76pts

Here's what the Breakaway team had to say about the role played by Enric Mas in the UAE rider's latest win...

Did Mas pay the price for being 'nice guy' in sprint finish with Narvaez?

Video credit: TNT Sports

16:39

16:39

ONE CHANGE IN THE TOP 10 OF GC

Afonso Eulalio (Bahrain Victorious) finished safely in the pack, which crossed the lien 3:24 down on today’s winner. There’s absolutely no change to the top nine, but Chris Harper, after his solid ride in the breakaway, rose seven places to 10th. The Australian is 4:09 in arrears, with Spain’s Markel Beloki of EF Education dropping one place to eleventh.

Portugual's Eulalio, then, stays 27 seconds clear of Jonas Vingegaard after his seventh day in pink.

16:26

NARVAEZ CHANNELS HIS INNER MICHAEL PHELPS

This is what today’s stage winner had to say about his third win - and it’s probably not what you expected he would say…

"All day [was difficult]. We missed the first group, but we then made the second group. Then, after an already hard race, I tried to jump over to the breakaway. This was difficult. Enric Mas was the strongest on the climb, so I had to pay my game."

I remembered a book that I was reading and the book says: if you don’t have your game, just make your own game. You will never see Michael Phelps running – he’s a specialist in the pool. And I just tried to defend myself in the uphill.

"When he launched the sprint, he almost tried to close me on the barriers, and I was on the limit. Because we raced not only uphill, but also downhill, all day."

16:20

STAGE 11 RESULTS – TOP 10 IN CHIAVARI

No one masters the breakaway today as well as the man from Ecuador…

1. Jhonatan Narvaez (UAE Team Emirates-XRG)
2. Enric Mas (Movistar) ”
3. Diego Ulissi (XDS Astana) +08
4. Chris Harper (Pinarello Q36.5) ”
5. Aleksandr Vlasov (Red Bull-Bora Hansgrohe) ”
6. Christian Scaroni (XDS Astana) +1:22
7. Ludovico Crescioli (Polti VisitMalta) ”
8. Simone Gualdi (Lotto Intermarche) 2:20
9. Warren Barguil (Picnic PostNL Raisin) ”
10. Andrea Raccagni Noviero (Soudal Quick-Step) ”

16:13

ULISSI TAKES THIRD PLACE

The Astana rider finishes ahead of Chris Harper and Aleksandr Vlasov as the top five come home. Next up was Scaroni, with the peloton coming over the line over three minutes in arrears.

16:11

THREE AND EASY FOR JHONATAN NARVAEZ!

Ecuador’s Jhonatan Narvaez (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) gets the better of Spain’s Enric Mas (Movistar) to win Stage 11 of the Giro d’Italia in style – a third win in this race for the 29-year-old.

16:09

FINAL KILOMETRE

It’s mano-a-mano between Narvaez and Mas, with only one possible outcome…

16:05

3KM TO GO: MAS FLICKS THE ELBOW

Narvaez comes through but it’s hard to see what the Spaniard can do here. This is like a sprinter coming up against Tadej Pogacar on a climb – it just won’t happen.