Jhonatan Narváez will leave Ineos at the end of this season to join UAE Team Emirates, where he has signed a two-year contract.
The Ecuadorian has enjoyed a sparkling 2024 campaign, capped by his victory in Turin on the opening day of the Giro d’Italia when he outsprinted his future teammate Tadej Pogačar to claim the first pink jersey of the race.
Narváez arrives at UAE Team Emirates after spending five seasons at Ineos, and he follows Adam Yates and Pavel Sivakov in moving to UAE from the British team.
“Since the beginning of my career, I’ve always wanted to be involved at the highest level of cycling and we can say that UAE Team Emirates is the best team in the world in the last years so it’s an honour to be moving there. I feel I’ve taken big steps at Ineos but I think I still have margin to take another step in the coming years,” Narváez said in a statement released by his new team.
“I feel like I still haven’t reached my full maturity as a rider and hope to keep progressing and improve both as a classics rider and as an all-rounder.”
Narváez showcased his ability on the cobbles with sixth place at E3 Harelbeke in March, but his Classics campaign was cut short by a heavy crash at Gent-Wevelgem. The 27-year-old returned to Ecuador to train ahead of an all-action Giro, where he came close to additional stage wins in Naples, Fano and Sappada.
He also claimed the Ecuadorian national title in 2024, and has also earned selection for the road race at the Paris Olympics ahead of the Tokyo gold medallist Richard Carapaz.
Narváez’s move from Ineos to UAE had been heavily rumoured since the start of the summer, and there was little surprise when the deal was confirmed as soon as the transfer window opened on August 1.
“We are very pleased to welcome Jhonatan to UAE Team Emirates for the coming years,” said UAE manager Mauro Gianetti. “He’s shown his ability both as a winner and as a worker and we feel he can slot in well to our team. Jhonatan is an aggressive rider with lots of experience at the top level so we are confident to see the best of him over the next years with us.”
