Too difficult for the sprinters, not challenging enough for the classification riders: the 11th stage of the Giro d'Italia was dominated by an escape group, from which Jhonatan Narvaez ultimately took the stage win after 195 kilometres of Chiavari. It was the Ecuadorian's third stage win in this tour, having already won the 4th and 8th stages.

This time Narvaez prevailed in the final sprint duel against Enric Mas (Movistar). Mas was the first to open his sprint, but the Spaniard had nothing to counter Narvaez's sprightliness in the final metres. Eight seconds later, Diego Ulissi (XDS Astana Team) secured third place in the sprint ahead of Chris Harper (Pinarello Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team) and Aleksandr Vlasov (both Team BORA - hansgrohe).

Afonso Eulálio stays in pink at the Giro d'Italia

With the prospect of a breakaway victory, the stage was competitive, hectic and characterised by attacks right from the start. One of the breakaway riders was Nico Denz (Team BORA - hansgrohe). However, the metres in altitude only awaited in the second half of the race with three mountain classifications and a final, uncategorised climb ten kilometres before the finish.

The peloton reached the finish line 3:24 minutes behind. There were no changes at the top of the overall standings. Afonso Eulálio (Bahrain Victorious) defended his pink jersey with a lead of 27 seconds over Jonas Vingegaard (Team Visma | Lease a Bike). Thymen Arensman (Netcompany INEOS, +1:57 minutes) and Felix Gall (Decathlon - CMA CGM, +2:24 minutes) followed.

Giro d'Italia 2026 - Results of the 11th stage

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How the 11th stage of the Giro d'Italia 2026 went

It took around 45 kilometres for the leading group of the day to form. Before that, a 16-man group had briefly formed, including Jonas Rutsch (Lotto-Intermarché). However, this group and many other attacks were not allowed to ride. The early stages of the stage were correspondingly hectic. The trio of Mattia Bais (Polti-Visit Malta), Chris Harper (Pinarello-Q36.5) and Andreas Leknessund (Uno-X Mobility) finally made the decisive move. They broke away from the peloton and were later joined by nine other riders, including Jasper Stuyven (Soudal Quick-Step), Alberto Bettiol and Diego Ulissi (both XDS Astana Team) as well as Nico Denz and Aleksandr Vlasov (both Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe).

Constant attacks lead to a hectic pace

However, the group was not initially allowed a large lead. The peloton kept the gap at around one minute before Lidl-Trek increased the pace once again and briefly split the peloton in two. The gap was now 40 seconds. On the climb, more riders tried to close the gap to the front, including Enric Mas (Movistar) and Lennert Van Eetvelt (Lotto-Intermarché).

Fifteen kilometres later, on the climb to the Passo del Termine (3rd category), Mas and Van Eetvelt caught up with the already decimated leading group. Shortly afterwards, Warren Barguil (Team Picnic-PostNL), Jhonatan Narváez (UAE Team Emirates) and Christian Scaroni (Astana Qazaqstan Team) also attacked from the peloton and closed the gap to the front. Bais secured the mountain classification on the Passo del Termine.

Denz is missing back, Vlasov attacks

The race situation only calmed down 80 kilometres before the finish and the escape group's lead gradually grew to three minutes. At the Colle di Guaitarola (2nd category), Denz fell back from the group.

With 40 kilometres to go, Vlasov, Stuyven and Narvaez broke away from the group after a long descent. On the climb to the Colla dei Scioli (3rd category), they were joined by Harper, Barguil, Ulissi and Ludovigo Crescioli (Team Polit). Eventually, Stuyven and Barguil lost touch, leaving a six-man lead group to tackle the final 25 kilometres. At this point, the peloton was around three minutes behind.

The last stage was the uncategorised climb to Cogorno 16 kilometres before the finish. On this climb, Narváez and Mas proved to be the two strongest riders in the group and shook off the rest.