Ecuadorian Jhonatan Narvaez powered away from his breakaway rivals to win stage eight of the Giro d'Italia on Saturday for his second victory and injury-decimated Team UAE's third so far.
🌟 2 Wins > 1 Win #GirodItalia pic.twitter.com/sllCVjHjYN
— Giro d'Italia (@giroditalia) May 16, 2026
Adam Yates, Jay Vine and Marc Soler have all been forced out of the Giro after a gruesome stage three pile up in Bulgaria, but the super-team from the Emirates has refocussed impressively.
A rolling 156km stage starting from Chieti on the Adriatic seemed to favour a breakaway win.
Narvaez, who had already won stage four in a sprint, was part of a breakaway midway through the day after an original escape had been reeled in. At the end he opened a 32 second gap at the line on Norway's Andreas Leknessund of Uno-X Mobility, with another UAE man Mikkel Bjerg third.
🔻 Alone in Fermo, Jhonatan Narvaez had time to celebrate and to savour his second win of the #GirodItalia.
— Giro d'Italia (@giroditalia) May 16, 2026
🔻 Da solo a Fermo, Jhonatan Narvaez ha il tempo per festeggiare e gustarsi la seconda vittoria di questo #GirodItalia.
⏪ The @continentaltire Ultimo Kilometro… pic.twitter.com/rxfaHUqKpd
"He was the man of the day," Narvaez said of Bjerg. "It was a full headwind over 60km and it was so hard for me. We had agreed he would lead me though and I would take the climb."
Pink jersey Afonso Eulalio, who grabbed a sizeable lead on stage five, still heads the Giro ahead of Jonas Vingegaard and Felix Gall.
Race favourite Vingegaard ignited his own Giro title bid on Friday on the formidable Blockhaus climb, finishing 13 seconds clear of Gall, while former Giro winner Red Bull's Jai Hindley was a further 49 seconds back in third to remain in the chase.
On Saturday, Hindley attacked on a climb to the line but crossed the summit with Vingegaard on his wheel a slender 2sec ahead of the peloton.
Sunday's stage nine also starts on the Adriatic and finishes with a steep climb over the final three kilometres where Eulalio will again be tested by the big guns.
Monday is a day off and Tuesday sees what promises to be a decisive 42km individual time trial along Italy's west coast
Some 15 riders have pulled out so far by comparison with 25 who never made it as far as Rome in 2025.
STAGE 8 RESULTS
1. Jhonatan Narváez (ECU) UAE Team Emirates - XRG 3:27:26
2. Andreas Leknessund (NOR) Uno-X Mobility +32
3. Martin Tjøtta (NOR) Uno-X Mobility +42
4. Thomas Silva (URU) XDS Astana Team +44
5. Lorenzo Milesi (ITA) Movistar Team "
6. Christian Scaroni (ITA) XDS Astana Team +48
7. Corbin Strong (NZL) NSN Cycling Team +55
8. Juan Pedro López (ESP) Movistar Team "
9. Wout Poels (NED) Unibet Rose Rockets +58
10. Markel Beloki (ESP) EF Education - EasyPost +1:00
11. Brieuc Rolland (FRA) Groupama - FDJ United +1:02
12. Jan Christen (SUI) UAE Team Emirates - XRG "
13. Simone Gualdi (ITA) Lotto Intermarché "
14. Gianmarco Garofoli (ITA) Soudal Quick-Step +1:08
15. Filippo Zana (ITA) Soudal Quick-Step +1:12
16. Mikkel Bjerg (DEN) UAE Team Emirates - XRG "
17. Thomas Pesenti (ITA) Team Polti VisitMalta +1:27
18. Mattia Bais (ITA) Team Polti VisitMalta +1:29
19. Andréa Mifsud (MLT) Team Polti VisitMalta +1:35
20. Igor Arrieta (ESP) UAE Team Emirates - XRG +1:36
GENERAL CLASSIFICATION
1. Afonso Eulálio (POR) Bahrain Victorious 34:28:42
2. Jonas Vingegaard (DEN) Team Visma - Lease a Bike +3:15
3. Felix Gall (AUT) Decathlon CMA CGM Team +3:34
4. Christian Scaroni (ITA) XDS Astana Team +4:18
5. Jai Hindley (AUS) Red Bull - BORA - +4:23
hansgrohe
6. Giulio Pellizzari (ITA) Red Bull - BORA - +4:28
hansgrohe
7. Ben O'Connor (AUS) Team Jayco AlUla +4:32
8. Mathys Rondel (FRA) Tudor Pro Cycling Team +4:56
9. Thymen Arensman (NED) Netcompany INEOS +5:07
10. Michael Storer (AUS) Tudor Pro Cycling Team +5:11