Giro sensation Narváez switches from INEOS to... UAE! "The best team in the world"

What an advantage a stage win in the Giro d'Italia can bring, right Jhonatan Narváez? The Ecuadorian defeated the big favorite Tadej Pogacar in a direct battle on day one of the Giro d'Italia, and by 2025, he will be racing for UAE-Team Emirates. Narváez has signed for two seasons and is transferring in from INEOS Grenadiers.

All jokes aside: Narváez had long since earned his stripes before his surprising stage win in the Giro (including the first pink jersey). The 27-year-old puncher entered the WorldTour with Patrick Lefevere's Quick Step in 2018 but switched to Team Sky a year later. Riding for the British powerhouse, he became a valued team member, though he only started winning from 2020 onwards. Besides his stage win in this May’s Giro, he also won a stage in the 2020 Giro. This year, he also crowned himself the Ecuadorian national champion.

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Narváez calls UAE Team Emirates "best team in the world"

Via UAE-Team Emirates' official channels, Narváez expressed his contentment with his move. "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 honor to be moving there. I feel I’ve taken big steps at INEOS but I think I still have room to take another step in the coming years.”

Narváez praises the organization at Pogacar's team. "From the outside UAE looks like a well organised team with a really good ambiance amongst the riders, and with a very experienced and specialised staff who are the best at what they do and look to dispute each race they go to. 
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.” Team boss Mauro Gianetti agrees. "Jhonatan has shown his ability both as a winner and as a domestique 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."

INEOS Grenadiers clearly harbors no ill feelings towards Narváez. In a message on social media, the team thanks him for his services. "But there are still some goals to come, let’s finish this year in style."