Giro d'Italia Giro d'Italia 2026, Stage 8: Chieti – Fermo, 157.0k

[Coppi-Bartali]

@Unchained I was just mentioning it because UAE only cares about winning; they don't care if Narvaez leaves the team, just like they didn't care when Ayuso left and put Vine as his domestique to win stages.

In many of these cases, it's been common practice to penalize riders who leave a team and prioritize those who stay.
This isn't the case with this team, as we saw today or with Ayuso, even though they fabricated the false narrative that they abandoned him. Regarding Ayuso, they made up a lot of things; there he is training with Pogacar, who supposedly mistreated him. Pure false narrative.

I think Narvaez has had a lot of freedom there.

 

[yaco]

Narvaez was never suited to UAE because he really not a GC rider nor a domestique


Needs a team where he can have some freedom

What. Narvaez gets lots of freedom at UAE.

 

[Peyresourde]

Narvaez is really a top talent. He had a lot of bad luck in his career, always crashing badly just when he was coming into great shape. He could have a much better palmares, but he still has some time.

If UAE do not renew him, it is simply a money issue. Ineos has had a big cash injection and nowhere to spend, so Naravaez may be the best rider on the market which leads to inflated salaries.

 

[Unchained]

I mentioned INEOS because he's going there.

He has no chances when he's Pogacar's domestique, but he wouldn't have any chances against him either if he were his rival. So he has the same opportunities he would have on another team; in races where he's not with Pogacar, he's always had freedom. Perhaps even more than he'll have with INEOS in some races.

If Pogacar was racing today it would have only been better, not worse for a @10 minutes off the back Narvaez, he was let go because even with a miracle day he is nobody on GC, when he is racing with someone in the GC hunt, you are right UAE usually holds him back for insurance.. But he has won 2 of 8 stages at a grand tour, grass is really green! Guy is happy for sure.. and he should be.UAE have a puzzling program apparently.. Del Toro has 26 wins in 3 years, Almedia 23 in 8 years, and Jhonatan has 17 in 8 years.. The only guy that acted like there was a lack of opportunity was Juan Ayuso who has been at it for 5 seasons, in his 6th with 18 wins, bad form and a bad attitude in my opinion. UAE is top heavy for sure but you gotta ask who was crowding out Narvaez at Ineos? My opinion is he is racing great at UAE and if he didn't suffer the injury setback he would have already got a few results before the Giro.. I like everything about the guy.

 

[Didinho]

Yeah, he beat a 73 kg mid climber on a murito stage. Unbelievable.

I haven’t seen a second of the stage. Was more about that they still win stages with half the team gone. Or like in the Tour their flat domestiques starts doing way longer and better when the climbers crash out.

 

[Krzysztof_O]

Eulalio trolling Vingo in the last km. He even looked back and smiled. He doesn't want to lose the jersey too quickly.

 

[QueenStagiaire]

Ciccone finally dropped five minutes. What took him so Long if he doesn‘t want to do GC?

 

[Lequack]

Eulalio trolling Vingo in the last km. He even looked back and smiled. He doesn't want to lose the jersey too quickly.

Would be funny if he wins the Giro at the end.

 

[Coppi-Bartali]

Would be funny if he wins the Giro at the end.

On Tuesday, he, Hindley, and Gall are going to lose a lot of time.

 

[Unchained]

@Unchained I was just mentioning it because UAE only cares about winning; they don't care if Narvaez leaves the team, just like they didn't care when Ayuso left and put Vine as his domestique to win stages.

In many of these cases, it's been common practice to penalize riders who leave a team and prioritize those who stay.
This isn't the case with this team, as we saw today or with Ayuso, even though they fabricated the false narrative that they abandoned him. Regarding Ayuso, they made up a lot of things; there he is training with Pogacar, who supposedly mistreated him. Pure false narrative.

I think Narvaez has had a lot of freedom there.

I totally agree with you, UAE cares about winning and exposure above all else. To reinforce your point, Jan Christen is on stage daily in white and Narvaez has won @25% of races held so far at the Giro..I am apparently the only person impressed by the accomplishment.. Lol! Overall I am super impressed by everything UAE is doing.. They have Yates, Vine, Narvaez, Del Toro, Almedia, Wellens all off the bike and broken and guys are emerging after injuries really strong and ready to race, Other teams have great racers but are not as prepared in my view..

I really hope that Decathlon is ready.. Trek is so so, Visma looks good..Sepp Kuss looks to really be laboring.. Ineos has a bunch of quality but nothing so far.. Carlos Rodriguez.. The next big thing is a bust..Bernal, Onley, Arensman all there but not shining ( yet)..even if Bahrain walks with this by some miracle, they don't have depth for the Tour.

 

[Red Rick]

This is where I say the break should always win this but I overestimate the DS's every single time when it comes to breakaways.

Visma should probably take a day off and wait for Sunday

Disagree entirely, there are like 5 teams with an incentive to keep this together. That makes this one of the worst remaining stages for the break in my book.

So basically I was right for the wrong reasons and you were wrong the right reasons.

It appears we cannot grasp the mysterious visions that DS's see in the flames at night mr Elbow.

 

[Oldman]

Smart riding by UAE. They needed a willing Norwegian to help Berg maintain that gap into the headwinds. Narvaez and Lekneesund both mentioned it but, in the end those ridiculously steep climbs favor the small dude. The rode even though it seems it was dull to non-UAE fans. Tomorrow will be different, for sure.

Hindley getting sporty at the end provided some comic relief.

 

[Sciatic]

Eulalio trolling Vingo in the last km. He even looked back and smiled. He doesn't want to lose the jersey too quickly.

He was just doing the jersey proud, as well he should for as long as he has it. I’m sure he’s ready to work hard tomorrow to keep it until the TT.

 

[EddyMazzoleni]

Tbf I'm normally all for laughing at Bora but Pellizzari did look quite suspect there at the finish so maybe he told them he wasn't feeling good and hence they preferred a calm finish and the break to take it.

Obviously doesn' look good with Hindley seemingly the strongest from the GC group and an opportunity wasted to pressure Gall but yeah, I'd give them a bit of leeway.

Yeah Pellizari looked bad, hopefully it is just an off day and he not doing a 2015 Aru cosplay. We shall see tomorrow. On the other hand, Arensman looked good for his standards today

 

[Ilmaestro99]

Hello , rinse & repeat from last Saturday,I am busy Saturdays so miss the stages. Anybody can tell me about today's stage? Worth watching? Glad to see hindley doing well. Not sure what happened to the gecko but now he can focus on dedication to his leader geesus.

 

[Red Rick]

Hello , rinse & repeat from last Saturday,I am busy Saturdays so miss the stages. Anybody can tell me about today's stage? Worth watching? Glad to see hindley doing well. Not sure what happened to the gecko but now he can focus on dedication to his leader geesus.

It looked like it was gonna be a great stage before the breakaway went away and after that it's the worst medium mountain stage I ever saw

 

[Brullnux]

Hello , rinse & repeat from last Saturday,I am busy Saturdays so miss the stages. Anybody can tell me about today's stage? Worth watching? Glad to see hindley doing well. Not sure what happened to the gecko but now he can focus on dedication to his leader geesus.

Good for the part that was supposed to be bad and bad for the part supposed to be good

 

[Escarabajo]

Gall is a good climber but useless as a puncher, and a disaster at positioning. It's on stages like this that BORA should knock him off the podium.

I couldn't agree more. I saw the profile and the first thing that I thought this is going to be trouble for Gall because teams like Red Bull, Bahrain and INEOS can push hard on the descents, punchy climbs and treacherous roads. He basically would have dropped by inertia!!! That was a wasted opportunity.

 

[Rob5091]

How much cash did Narvaez promise Bjerg?
https://cyclinguptodate.com/cycling...l-bjerg-as-he-climbs-onto-second-giro-victory

We did an agreement, I can't say now on TV, but he was the man of the day for me."