COSENZA, Italy (AP) 鈥� Italian rider Giulio Ciccone took the overall lead of the Giro d鈥橧talia as this year’s race moved into his home country for the first time, and Jhonatan Narv谩ez won the fourth stage on Tuesday.
, the first Uruguayan to win a Giro stage and to don the pink jersey, had been in the lead as the race resumed in Italy following a rest day after the opening three stages in Bulgaria.
But Thomas Silva cracked halfway up the lengthy, second-category climb in the latter half of the stage and eventually finished more than 10 minutes off the pace.
Ciccone was fighting for the stage win but the Lidl-Trek cyclist was outsprinted by Narv谩ez, with Orluis Aular second at the end of the 138-kilometer (86-mile) route from Catanzaro, in the foot of Italy, to Cosenza.
The four bonus seconds Ciccone picked up for finishing third was enough to lift him into the overall lead of the Giro, four seconds ahead of Jan Christen, Florian Stork and Egan Bernal.
鈥淭he feeling is, I would say, amazing,鈥� said the 31-year-old Ciccone, who crashed out of last year’s Giro. “I鈥檝e always dreamed of this jersey since I was a kid. I started this sport dreaming to wear this jersey, and today I think I really realized one of my best dreams.
鈥淓specially like this, you know, I was not expecting this jersey today. After many hard moments, especially last year with the crash. I think this year wearing now this jersey is really something really crazy.鈥�
The Giro is Narv谩ez’s first race since the Ecuadorian rider fractured several vertebrae in a crash at the Tour Down Under in Australia in January.
鈥淚 think it鈥檚 really big for me, this victory here, coming from just three months鈥� training in Ecuador,鈥� said Narv谩ez, who rides for UAE Team Emirates-XRG. “I want to send thanks to my family, my wife, my team, they鈥檝e been a great support in this time.
鈥淎nd obviously this victory is also for my teammates, they crashed on stage two, they鈥檝e been working for a while to come here in a good condition and finally we take the victory today … so I think we are a lot happier now.鈥�
Wednesday鈥檚 fifth stage could shake up the general classification standings. It features nearly 4,000 meters of climbing and hardly any flat sections on the 203-kilometer (126-mile) route from Praia a Mare to Potenza.
The 109th men鈥檚 Giro ends on May 31 in Rome.
The women鈥檚 Giro runs from May 30-June 7 with Italian rider Elisa Longo Borghini as the defending champion.
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