He attacked, he crashed, he went off course, he got back into contention and he won: Igor Arrieta dedicated one of the most memorable stage victories in recent Giro d’Italia history to his three teammates forced to abandon in a mass pile-up early in the race.
UAE Team Emirates-XRG’s tough start to the Giro began even before the first stage, as one of their GC leaders João Almeida was sidelined from starting due to illness, but much worse was to come.
UAE’s Giro looked all but wrecked, but on stage 4 Jhonathan Narváez – himself badly injured in the Tour Down Under – provided a major boost for team morale when he claimed a small group sprint victory. And as Arrieta told journalists on Wednesday, the Ecuadorian’s triumph acted as the ideal motivation to go for the win himself 24 hours later.
Finally, having regained contact again with fellow-breakaway Afonso Eulálio, despite both visibly running on fumes, he was able to beat the Bahrain Victorious rider, who had the major compensation of the overall lead, in an agonisingly-long sprint for the line.
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