Narvaez drops out of Giro d'Italia, points jersey bid over / Photo: Luca Bettini - AFP
Narvaez drops out of Giro d'Italia, points jersey bid over
Jhonatan Narvaez has dropped out of the Giro d'Italia, his team said on Friday, ending the Ecuadorian's bid for the points jersey currently held by Paul Magnier.
UAE rider Narvaez abandoned the race not long after the start of Friday's punishing 19th stage which will be key to Jonas Vingegaard's bid to win his first Giro.
"Yesterday (Thursday), the Ecuadorean suffered a small crash on the transfer back to the bus which left him in some discomfort on the challenging terrain today," said UAE in a statement.
"He goes home with three stage wins in the back pocket and two stints in the ciclamino (points jersey)."
Narvaez, 29, conceded the points jersey on Thursday to Magnier, who won stage 18, and was 37 points behind his French rival before the start on Friday.
Magnier is now all-but assured of the sprinters' points title as he now has a lead of 92 over new closest rival Jonathan Milan with three stages left to complete.
Vingegaard is four minutes and three seconds ahead of Felix Gall in the general classification and firm favourite for overall victory.
M.Bengtsson--StDgbl
