“I have worn the Maglia Rosa and now this jersey” - Jhonatan Narvaez takes Giro d’Italia points lead after UAE masterplan pays off

Jhonatan Narvaez has turned UAE Team Emirates - XRG’s stage-hunting Giro into a classification fight of its own. Three stage wins had already made him one of the standout riders of the race, but Stage 14 added something different: the Maglia Ciclamino.

On the same day Jonas Vingegaard finally ripped the Maglia Rosa away from Afonso Eulalio, Narvaez quietly took purple from Paul Magnier by a single point. It was not another UAE stage win, but it was another example of how the team has kept finding ways to profit from a race that has repeatedly slipped beyond pure sprint control.

The points jersey had looked like Magnier’s territory after his two early sprint wins, but the middle section of this Giro has dragged the competition onto much harsher ground. Stage 14 was another day where Soudal - Quick-Step were asked to defend a sprinter’s jersey on terrain that gave them little margin.

Narvaez saw the opportunity before the flag dropped. “Yes, the truth is we knew it would not be easy, but that it was possible to take the jersey because Quick-Step had a difficult day to control on the first climb,” Narvaez told Cycling Pro Net. “It will be nice to wear it and we will see what we can do in the final week.”

That was the key. UAE did not need Narvaez to win the stage. They needed him to stay in the right places, survive the hard terrain and keep scoring while Magnier’s race became increasingly difficult to manage.

By the end of the stage, Narvaez had moved to 131 points, one ahead of Magnier. Jonathan Milan sits further back on 76, leaving the battle for purple centred around two very different riders: Magnier, the fast finisher, and Narvaez, the all-rounder who has made the hardest days count.

Narvaez’s standout line after the stage carried extra weight because it reached beyond this Giro. His reference to the Maglia Rosa was not about the 2026 race, but his opening-stage win at the 2024 Giro, when he took pink in Turin.

Now he has added the points jersey to that Grand Tour record. “Yes. I have worn the Maglia Rosa and now this jersey, so it feels good,” he said. “It really feels good. I feel proud. Every achievement is important for me.”

It has been that kind of Giro for Narvaez. He has won from selective racing, thrived in breakaway chaos and now forced himself into a classification battle that had once looked built for the sprinters. “It feels very good,” he added. “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.”

UAE’s strength in this race has come from more than one rider. Adam Yates, Jay Vine and Marc Soler leaving the race early could have wrecked their Giro, but instead the team has flipped into stage-hunting mode with brutal efficiency.

Stage 14 again showed that spread. Narvaez was thinking about purple, but Igor Arrieta and Jan Christen also gave UAE options on a day where the breakaway battle and the GC fight overlapped.

“It was complicated,” Narvaez said. “I think it was a difficult day for me. Jan and Igor had opportunities. Igor is a very intelligent rider as well, and he did well. There are still days left, so we will keep giving our best.”

Narvaez has the jersey, but not control of it. Magnier is only one point behind and still has chances on faster days. Narvaez, though, has changed the shape of the contest. This is no longer just a sprinter defending purple and waiting for Milan or Rome.

It is now a one-point fight between a pure finisher and a rider who has already made this Giro his own in almost every other way.