‘I was just 15 metres short…’ – Jhonatan Narváez goes agonisingly close to another Giro d’Italia win

Jhonatan Narváez fell just two pedal strokes short of victory in Naples on stage 9 of the Giro d’Italia, denied victory at the last when stage winner Olav Kooij and the sprinters swept past him almost beneath the Arrivo banner on Via Caracciolo. The Giro can foist all sorts of agonies upon its participants, but few are as visceral as a near miss like this one.

Still, Narváez wore his disappointment lightly as he warmed down in the shade outside the Ineos Grenadiers bus – not because his appetite on this Giro had already been sated by victory on the opening day in Turin, but simply because he had accepted the odds before laying the bet.