Narváez storms to Giro d'Italia stage victory as Christen takes white jersey

UAE Team Emirates-XRG light-up finale in Cosenza

News | Team –12th May 2026

UAE Team Emirates-XRG enjoyed a superb day at the Giro d’Italia as Jhonatan Narváez powered to victory on today’s stage 4 from Catanzaro to Cosenza (138km) after an explosive finale, while teammate Jan Christen animated the closing kilometres with a late attack and moved into the maglia bianca as best young rider.

The key move came inside the final 2km when Christen launched a sharp acceleration on the technical run-in. The move forced the main favourites onto the defensive and set the scene for Narvaez’s sprint.

The young Swiss rider’s attack softened up the opposition perfectly for Narváez, who responded moments later with a powerful acceleration of his own.

In his first race since breaking several vertabrae at the Tour Down Under in January, Narváez took a convincing win in the sprint ahead of Orluis Aular (Movistar) who finished second and Giulio Ciccone (Lidl-Trek) in third who now wears the Maglia Rosa ahead of stage 5.

Behind, Christen crossed safely among the leading riders, earning enough time to move into the white jersey classification as best young rider of the race and second overall on GC at just 4 seconds from the lead.

The Ecuadorian’s victory marks a breath of fresh air for UAE Team Emirates-XRG in the opening week of the Giro, after several casualties in the first stages in Bulgaria.

Jhonatan Narváez: “This victory means a lot for me. I want to send thanks to my family, my wife and my team who have been a great support during all this time I was out injured and preparing for this race. Obviously I would also like to dedicate this to my teammates who crashed on stage 2 and are no longer here in the race. I wish them a good recovery.

In the finale I took the corner at 700m to go in a really good position and then it was just all about the legs in the sprint. I’m really glad I could deliver this victory.”

Stage 4 results

1.Jhonatan Narvaez (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) 3:08:46

2.Orluis Aular (Movistar) s.t

3.Giulio Ciccone (Lidl-Trek) s.t

General Classification after stage 4

1.Giulio Ciccone (Lidl-Trek) 16:18:51

2.Jan Christen (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) +4”

3.Florian Stork (Tudor Pro Cycling) s.t