Narvaez claims second stage win of 2026 Giro

Jhonatan Narvaez held off Andreas Leknessund to claim victory on stage eight of the Giro d'Italia.

Ecuadorian Narvaez was part of a three-man breakaway, along with UAE Emirates-XRG team-mate Mikkel Bjerg and Uno-X Mobility's Leknessund on the 156km stage, and made his move with about 10.5km left.

Bjerg, having helped his team-mate, dropped off and Leknessund could not keep up with Narvaez, who went on to claim his second stage win of this year's race - crossing the line following a gruelling final few kilometres, which were mainly uphill.

"It was a nice stage for me. I think we play well with my team-mate - I think he was the man of the day - Mikkel Bjerg," said Narvaez, who also won stage four.

"In the end it was about the legs."

Leknessund finished 32 seconds behind the winner and said he could not be disappointed with his second place as "Narvaez was stronger in the end, kind of as expected".

Afonso Eulalio of Portugal kept the leader's pink jersey and holds a lead of three minutes 15 seconds over two-time Tour de France winner Jonas Vingegaard, of Denmark.

Giro d'Italia stage 8 results

1. Jhonatan Narvaez (Ecu/UAE Team Emirates-XRG) 3hrs 27mins 26secs

2. Andreas Leknessund (Nor/Uno-X Mobility) +32secs

3. Martin Tjotta (Nor/Uno-X Mobility) +42secs

4. Thomas Silva (Uru/XDS Astana) +44secs

5. Lorenzo Milesi (Ita/Movistar) same time

6. Christian Scaroni (Ita/XDS Astana) +48secs

7. Corbin Strong (Nzl/NSN Cycling) +55secs

8. Juan Pedro Lopez (Spa/Movistar) same time

9. Wout Poels (Ned/Unibet Rose Rockets) +58secs

10. Markel Beloki (Spa/EF Education - EasyPost) +1min

Giro d'Italia general classification results after stage 8

1. Afonso Eulalio (Por/Bahrain-Victorious) 34hrs 28mins 42secs

2. Jonas Vingegaard (Den/Team Visma-Lease a Bike) +3min 15secs

3. Felix Gall (Aut/Decathlon) +3min 34secs

4. Christian Scaroni (Ita/XDS Astana) +4min 18secs

5. Jai Hindley (Aus/Red Bull – BORA) +4min 23secs

6. Giulio Pellizzari (Ita/Red Bull – BORA) +4min 28secs

7. Ben O'Connor (Aus/Team Jayco AlUla) +4min 32secs

8. Mathys Rondel (Fra/Tudor Pro Cycling Team) +4min 56secs

9. Thymen Arensman (Ned/Netcompany Ineos) +5mins 7secs

10. Michael Storer (Aus/Tudor Pro Cycling Team) +5min 11secs