Giro d'Italia - Stage 4: Narvaez eases UAE pain, Ciccone in pink for the first time
Sebastian Lindner
· 12.05.2026
For Narvaez himself, but also for the badly battered UAE team the success was balm for a soul that had been spoilt by success. The Giro is the 29-year-old's comeback race after another serious crash at the start of the season at the Tour Down Under and his first victory since the Deutschland Tour 2025. Before Narvaez started his sprint on the home straight, it was his team-mate Jan Christen who had victory in sight. The Swiss rider had attacked 1.7 kilometres before the finish, but was caught 300 metres before the line.
Because the previous wearer of the pink jersey on the relatively short 138-kilometre stage from Catanzaro to Cosenza, like all sprinters, did not make it over the difficult climb at the start of the last third of the stage, and because Ciccone collected a total of six bonus seconds at the intermediate sprint and at the finish, the Italian is the new man at the top of the Giro - for the first time in his career. "When I started cycling, it was my dream to ride in pink one day. Now that dream has come true," the 31-year-old told journalists at the finish line.
Stork lacks the legs for pink in the final
Florian Stork (Tudor Pro Cycling), second in the overall standings before the day, also had his eye on pink and tried to collect the necessary bonuses both at the intermediate sprint and in the finale. As the best German, however, he only crossed the finish line in eleventh place. "In the technical final, it was difficult to find the right rear wheel. And I didn't have the legs either," he explained to Eurosport.
Christen is the new runner-up, four seconds behind Ciccone. Stork is third with the same gap. Paul Magnier (Soudal Quick-Step) continues to lead the points classification. He also didn't make it over the mountain with the leaders, which was mainly due to the fact that Movistar set an extreme pace for Aular, especially at the start of the climb, which quickly put the sprinters under pressure. The mountain jersey still belongs to Diego Pablo Sevilla (Team Polti VisitMalta), although he was also left behind on the Cozzo Tunno (2nd category).
In addition to second place in the overall standings, Christen has also taken the young rider's jersey. The 21-year-old is two seconds ahead of Giulio Pellizzari (Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe). Like all the other favourites in the classification, the Italian reached the finish with the race leaders.
Giro d'Italia 2026 - Results of the 4th stage
Stage 4: Catanzaro - Cosenza
Giro d'Italia 2026: Stage 4, Catanzaro - Cosenza
| Rnk. | Riders | Time |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | UAE Team Emirates - XRG | 03:08:46 |
| 2 | Movistar Team | +00:00:00 |
| 3 | Lidl - Trek | +00:00:00 |
| 4 | Netcompany INEOS | +00:00:00 |
| 5 | NSN Cycling Team | +00:00:00 |
| 6 | Bahrain - Victorious | +00:00:00 |
How the 4th stage of the Giro d'Italia 2026 went
Italy has been reached. The real Giro begins in Calabria, as was rumoured here and there in the peloton. The interest in the leading group was correspondingly high. After several attacks and counterattacks, there were finally six professionals who were to determine the first part of the day as the group of the day. In addition to the Swiss rider Johan Jacobs (Groupama - FDJ United), the formation included the two Italians Martin Marcellusi (Bardiani CSF 7 Saber) and Mattia Bais (Team Polti VisitMalta), Warren Barguil (Team Picnic PostNL), Niklas Larsen (Unibet Rose Rockets) and Darren Rafferty (EF Education - EasyPost), who gained up to two and a half minutes over the flat 80 kilometres.
On the way, Kaden Groves (Alpecin - Premier Tech) and Arnaud De Lie (Lotto Intermarché) were announced to have abandoned, Wilco Kelderman (Team Visma | Lease a Bike) did not even start. The two sprinters got to the Cozzo Tunno (2nd category). There, however, all the other sprinters were gradually dropped, as was Thomas Silva (XDS Astana) in the pink jersey. In the course of the 15 kilometre long climb, the escapees were also swallowed up again.
Lots of action on the Red Bull kilometre
So far, so expected. What was surprising, however, was that Egan Bernal (Netcompany INEOS) did not make it over the mountain with the reduced peloton of around 40 riders. Bernal and all the others left behind had 40 kilometres to close the gap to the finish. With 15 kilometres to go, the group around the Colombian rider was back in contention.
Shortly afterwards, the Red Bull kilometre was taken off. Christen secured six bonus seconds, four went to Pellizzari and two to Ciccone. Jonas Vingegaard (Team Visma | Lease a Bike) and Stork were also in the mix.
The focus then switched to the final. The final was very technical with plenty of changes of direction. Christen tried to attack from the back of the group with 1700 metres to go, but was brought back 300 metres before the finish. On the long finishing straight, Aular was the first in the wind. He was still able to fend off Ciccone. But Narvaez on the other side of the road had a completely different speed that nobody could resist.
