UAE plays Giro d'Italia stage four to perfection

Two cards to play and one card wins big.

UAE Team Emirates-XRG has a quandary today at the Giro d’Italia.

As the final kilometers of stage four in Cosenza ticked down, they had two tantalizing opportunities.

Would they use the sling shot or the rocket?

The sling was Jan Christian who, thanks to a few bonus seconds picked up the Red Bull intermediate sprint, was in with a shot at the pink jersey.

The few bonus seconds he’d gain at the finish, would make him race leader — with all the media hoopla and team joy that event would occasion. Hugs, Prosecco, salary bump.

Then again, they also had a rocket in that same charging front group. This was fast-man and teammate Jhonatan Narvaez, who excels in this kind of lung and leg-bursting uphill grind. The odds on him winning the stage were more than good.

So what would it be? The slingshot or the rocket?

After mulling the two tactical options, UAE Team Emirates went with … both weapons.

At 1.5 kilometers to go, Jan Christian hovered at the very back of the lead group. He wasn’t chilling or soft pedaling his way to the line. He was calculating his acceleration.

He slingshot from the back and flew up the left side of the road. Instant gap, major chaos. Movistar, who had worked at the front all day long for their sprinter Orluis Aular, suddenly had a serious problem.

It was the same crisis for Trek Lidl and their man Giulio Ciccone — and their dream of putting the Italian in pink as a final honor for his stellar career.

For a few tense moments, it appeared that the slingshot was the winning move. Then as they hit the final 400 meters at a tough 3.7% grade, Chasten slowed and the fast men ripped past.

Time to launch the rocket.

Jhonatan Narvaez had watched his teammate Christian shoot by but remained calm. Hey, if the guy won the stage, Narvaez might still appreciate the reflective glow of victory and attendant vibes.

That said, he had his own agenda and that was happening right now.

The Movistar star Orluis Aular went first and looked golden. Ciccone followed a slipstream and then made a strong move for pink. But it was Narvaez who had the best sense of when and how. There was no question who was the fastest on this day.

This was a particularly gratifying and energizing win for UAE who had lost their GC men Adam Yates and Jay Vine in horrific crashes just days earlier.

The slingshot was great but the rocket took the victory.