"He can climb with the best of the world" - INEOS Grenadiers incredibly impressed by Jhonatan Narvaez's early season form

The INEOS Grenadiers got their 2024 campaign underway at the Tour Down Under on Tuesday with a fifth-placed finish on stage 1 from Jhonatan Narvaez. Sports Director, Oli Cookson insists however, there is no pressure on the British-based team.

“We have a mixed bunch, but also a very strong and very motivated group," Cookson said in conversation with GCN before the start of stage 1 in Tanunda. “I think the big favourites are Simon Yates, Luke Plapp, Milan Vader who won China, they’re the real guys for the climbs. We’ll see how Jonny Narváez goes, but for us, there’s no real pressure, we’re here for sprints with Elia Viviani.”

Sadly for Viviani, the experienced Italian couldn't even manage a top-30 finish on the opening stage and whilst his best days may be behind him, Cookson remains confident that Viviani can compete with the big-name sprinters of the peloton through 2024.

“We’ve got Elia for the sprints, you saw how he finished the end of the season last year, in the CRO Race but also that victory in China [at the Tour of Guangxi] was pretty important. He’s stayed super on it all winter and he’s in good shape, so we’re gonna be looking after him and going for him in the sprints," Cookson explained. " If you look at the lead-out there, having guys like Filippo Ganna and Joshua Tarling, and also Ben Swift’s experience is there to deliver the guys deep into those sprints.”

After his victory in the Tour Down Under prelude, the Down Under Classic and fifth on stage 1, Jhonatan Narvaez is quickly positioning himself as the star of the early season for INEOS. "He’s in good shape," Cookson admits.

"There’s some incredibly strong climbers in the race, so we’ve got to manage his efforts accordingly," concludes the sports director. "He can climb with the best of the world on the short climbs, and also he’s got the ability to sprint to get bonus seconds so we need to be clever with how we use him for GC, and then we’ve got Laurens de Plus who will be right up there as well, and Leo Hayter as well.”