"Ecuador is in fashion in the Giro d'Italia," said the Spanish newspaper As after the brilliant victory of the tricolor Jhonatan Narváez on a very tough day, marked by cold, rain, and wind in the 12th stage of the Italian race of 204 kilometers.
The rider from Sucumbios arrived alone at the finish line in a time of 5h 31min 24s.
Narváez gave the British team Ineos Grenadiers its third victory in this edition, after the two achieved by Filippo Ganna. It is also Ecuador's second victory in this Giro, after Jonathan Caicedo's in the third stage; the third for the country after the feat of Richard Carapaz in 2019 and the fifth stage win for Ecuadorians in the Corsa Rosa.
"A nation in fashion in the Corsa Rosa, since Richard Carapaz became the first rider from his country to win the race last year," emphasizes As in its digital version, while Gazzetta dello Sport values the consecration of the Ecuadorian in a day marked by unfavorable weather conditions for the race leader, Portuguese Joao Almeida (Deceuninck Quick-Step), who despite finishing ninth today, retains the pink jersey.
Marca, on the other hand, states that Jhonatan Narváez "expands Ecuador's glory" in the hometown of the late Pirate Marco Pantani, who died 16 years ago.
"The land of Marco Pantani was the stage of a day that the 'Pirate' would have loved to experience. The nine hills did not cause any significant changes among the favorites for the overall victory, but the constant broken terrain and rain resulted in a spectacular cycling day in which Domenico Pozzovivo's NTT and Jhonatan Narváez's first great victory were the protagonists in Cesenatico," says Marca.
Mundo Deportivo, from the city of Barcelona, values the victory of the Ecuadorian "on a dog day in the Giro d'Italia" for the favorites.
"On a dog day, which invites more to follow the race from the sofa than to suffer it on the bike, Jhonatan Narváez (23 years old) has achieved a meritorious victory in the 12th stage of the Giro d'Italia, 2,014 kilometers, starting and ending in Cesenatico. The second for Ecuadorian cycling in this Corsa Rosa after the one achieved by Jonathan Caicedo in the third stage with a finish on Mount Etna, and after being one of the members of the numerous final breakaway and benefiting from the puncture suffered by Mark Padun at 28 kilometers from the finish when both were leading a broken and accident-filled stage," pointed out the Catalan newspaper.
In the third victory for Ecuadorian cycling in the Giro d'Italia, Narváez from Sucumbios celebrates again in Emilia-Romagna after winning a stage and the general classification in the Coppi and Bartali International Week on September 4th. (D)