FERMO, Italy (AP) 鈥� Jhonatan Narv谩ez claimed his second stage in the Giro d鈥橧talia while Afonso Eul谩lio remained in the overall lead on Saturday.
Narv谩ez attacked from a breakaway group of three on the penultimate climb, with 10 kilometers (six miles) remaining of the 156-kilometer (97-mile) stage eight from Chieti to Fermo.
The Ecuadorian rider crossed the summit finish 32 seconds ahead of Andreas Leknessund, with Martin Tj酶tta 10 seconds further back.
The Giro is Narv谩ez鈥檚 first race since he broke several vertebrae in a crash at the Tour Down Under in Australia in January. The UAE Team Emirates-XRG rider also on Tuesday.
鈥淲e knew this was a stage that suited me. We raced it really well with my teammates,” Narv谩ez said. “In the finale, once I was alone, it all came down to the legs. The headwind made everything extremely tough. We never gave up and raced intelligently.
“It鈥檚 a great victory, especially after my crash in January and after the fact that here at the Giro we鈥檙e down to just five riders. There鈥檚 a great atmosphere within the team, and I think we鈥檒l win more stages next week.鈥�
Jonas Vingegaard crossed the line two seconds ahead of most of the rest of the general classification contenders. He trimmed the gap to Eul谩lio slightly to 3 minutes, 15 seconds. Felix Gall was 19 seconds further back in third.
Sunday鈥檚 ninth stage is a 184-kilometer (114-mile) route from Cervia that ends with a top-category climb to Corno alle Scale.
The 109th men鈥檚 Giro ends on May 31 in Rome.
The women鈥檚 Giro runs from May 30-June 7 with Italian rider Elisa Longo Borghini as the defending champion.
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