Pure sprinter Paul Magnier is likely to take back the jersey on stage 15, but the final week favours the punchy Jhonatan Narváez.
Cor Vos, Harry Talbot
There was a lot of change on stage 14 of the Giro d’Italia. While the shifts in general classification could be expected long in advance, the reappearance of Jhonatan Narváez at the podium ceremony marked a more unlikely change as the Ecuadorian champion prepared to pull on the maglia ciclamino, taking it off the back of the race’s top sprinter (so far) Paul Magnier after winning the intermediate sprint from the breakaway.
“We knew it wasn’t easy, but it was possible to take the jersey because QuickStep had a hard time controlling on the first climb,” Narváez said at the finish. “It is going to be a milestone to wear it and now we’ll see what can be done in the final week.”
Before Saturday’s major mountain test in the Italian Alps, Magnier was the natural leader of the points classification, built on a strong foundation of two stage wins in the first week. While not exactly commanding, Magnier had a 54-point advantage over next-best sprinter Jonathan Milan, a seasoned points classification contender, though the Italian has yet to win a stage at this Giro. By the middle of the second week, it was becoming apparent that the Frenchman’s biggest rival might just be the apparently indomitable Narváez.
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