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Pogacar had already splintered the peloton by the time he attacked with four kilometres remaining until the line in Turin, but he could not rid himself of Narvaez.
The Ineos Grenadiers rider withstood three separate accelerations from Pogacar before the pair were joined by Max Schachmann (Bora-Hansgrohe) on the three-kilometre descent.
It was there when Pogacar pounced on Schachmann’s subsequent move, with Narvaez content to wait a little while longer; heeding the instructions – and encouragement – from his team.
“We had analysed this with the team a while ago and we knew this was a stage for me,” Narvaez said.
“I worked hard for this. It was crazy to follow the strongest man in the peloton.”
Pogacar has been tipped to have the maglia rosa firmly in his grasp when it’s all said and done in Rome, but the UAE Team Emirates star may have misjudged the opening stage's finale.
As Schachmann opened up his sprint with Pogacar on his heels, Narvaez pounced with just enough distance remaining to overtake his two rivals, win the stage and wear the maglia rosa for the very first time.
“We know he’s the strongest guy in the world,” Narvaez said of Pogacar. “He did a lot on the climb. I was on his wheel there and all the way to the line.
“When you have a guy like this, you have to play your cards the right way.
“In the end, it was really hard just to stay on his wheel on the climb. From the bottom of the climb, it was very hard. He attacked three times, and I followed each time. The descent was flat-out too, so I had to manage it.
“In the sprint, I think Pogacar went too long. He went with 200m to go at the end of a really hard stage. I did a shorter sprint, and I was able to take the victory.”
