Honatan Narvaez came two steps short of victory in Naples on stage 9 of the Giro d'Italia. That's because stage winner Olaf Kooij and his sprinters swept him away almost directly under the flag of Arrivo on Via Caracciolo. The Giro can cause its participants many woes, but none more intuitive than a near miss such as this one.

Still, Narvaez made light of his disappointment as he warmed himself in the shade outside the Ineos Grenadiers bus. This appetite for the Giro was not because he had already satisfied it with his first-day victory in Turin, but simply because he had accepted the odds before placing his wager.

When the Ecuadorian champion sprinted out of the Gruppo with 7 kilometers to go to the finish along the Naples Sea coast, he would have known that the end would be as agonizing as it was ecstatic. It was a sprinting group game that day, but Narvaez's good form and the steep road to Naples encouraged him to keep going.

"It was a good chance. It was a special stage with curves and a finale kick," Narvaez told Cycling News while soft-pedaling on his turbo trainer. You never know what's going to happen if you don't try. That's why cycling is beautiful. In the final, that's exactly what happened and I didn't get the win."

When asked if his victory over Tadei Pogachar and a day in the pink at the Giro had eased some of the disappointment of not winning at the last minute, Narvaez shook his head. No, it was all part of his gamble.

"It's frustrating because it was so close," Narvaez said. But that's cycling. In every sport, these things happen. The sport teaches you to be a fighter every day, and even more so in the Grand Tours."

"It's a great way to learn.

Ineos' main objective in this Giro remains the overall ambition of Geraint Thomas, despite a 2:58 gap to Pogachar. Narvaez's freedom of movement in the finale in Naples depended on Thomas' ability to safely ride the most winding parts of the stage. Thomas, a Welshman who fell with 58 km to go, later voiced concerns about the road conditions on the run-in, but as Naples approached, Narvaez was given the green light to take on the challenge.

"It was a bit of a plan," Narvaez said. But first we had to make sure our leader was safe."

Narvaez accelerated just over 7km remaining on the steep climb up Collina di Posillipo. Narvaez accelerated a little past 7 km remaining on the steep climb of Collina di Posillipo.

He continued to ride lightly through the streets of Naples. With 1km to go, Narvaez had a 12-second gap on the rest of the field and the possibility of a stage win was on the line. As the finish line approached, Pogachar supported his UAE teammate Juan Sebastian Morano, bringing Narvaez his destiny. Narvaez finished 11th, and Kooi won the race.

"At the end of the race, I was quite close to the peloton, but in the end I was 15-10 meters short ......" Narvaez said.

"Still, it was a good run," Narvaez said.

That was an understatement. Pogachar may have been the star of this opening week of the Giro, but the best supporting player was almost certainly Narvaez. The 27-year-old admitted that he was in the prime of his life at this Giro, despite the fall that ended a promising Classics campaign. His efforts at El Playón de San Francisco last month paid off here.

"I worked very hard," he said. 'The team helped me, both physically and psychologically. I did an aspirational amount of work to prepare and the team has put a lot of faith in me and I am getting results here"