“It hurts to be so close now to the victory" - Jhonatan Narváez has to settle for second at the Tour Down Under

Jhonatan Narváez can look back with a lot of pride on his Tour Down Under escapades. The Ecuadorian finished the race second overall and third in the points classification. Sadly, victory eluded him though.

“It hurts to be so close now to the victory, not only stage but also GC, but that’s also why this sport is so beautiful. It’s so difficult to win,” the INEOS Grenadiers' sports director Oli Cookson said post-race in conversation with Cycling News. “Chapeau to Stevie Williams and also to Israel Premier Tech."

Finishing just nine seconds down on Israel - Premier Tech's Stephen Williams, Narvaez came so close to adding Tour Down Under victory to his Down Under Classic triumph from earlier this month. “For us, we knew that Johnny was in great shape, he has been working hard all winter," continues Cookson. "He is having a baby in February so he is going to go back and be with his family for a short time and we knew that this was a clear objective for him."

“I’m sure Johnny is frustrated,” Cookson concludes. “He has put in a lot of hard yards over the winter and came here wanting to win GC but with second on GC and a victory in the criterium and th team performing the way it is I think we now look forward to the other goals of this trip, in particular the Cadel Evans race.”