Jhonatan Narváez transfer: Hit or miss? | INEOS rider turns A-tier domestique for Tadej Pogacar at UAE

A member of the Axeon under-23 during its golden years, Soudal - Quick-Step and INEOS Grenadiers, few could've imagined that Jhonatan Narváez' level could increase further at this point in his career. However what happened is that with his new contract at UAE Team Emirates - XRG, the South American classics specialist not only found the best level of his career but has also become a right-hand man for none other than Tadej Pogacar in his very biggest roles.

The role of the 'puncheur' in the peloton has diminished as the likes of Tadej Pogacar and Remco Evenepoel have become the strongest riders on the hilly classics in the peloton it it featured longer climbs, whilst the cobbled classics men such as Mathieu van der Poel and Mads Pedersen could rule the easier ones. Long gone are the days where riders such as Julian Alaphilippe, Michal Kwiatkowski and Simon Gerrans - riders who specifically specialized in the mid-distance hilly terrain would win many of the biggest races in the world.

The puncheur is somewhat a dying species in the peloton, with those riders now being forced to either turn into stronger climbers, cobbled classics specialists or sprinters in order to continue performing. We've seen this with riders such as Philippe Gilbert or Tom Pidcock who have had to adapt to different sorts of races in order to keep achieving their desired results at specific parts of their careers. Hence Narváez, an incredibly talented rider, found himself in a crossroads in 2024. He was part of the INEOS Grenadiers team, one where the management seemed to create more problems that solutions for itself and saw many of its top riders leave over the past few years.

Narváez hadn't reached absolute leader status, but maybe if he had been given that, INEOS would've had another start this year. Instead, UAE got the market victory, signing the (at the time) 27-year old. This transfer could've been widely influenced by the opening stage of the 2024 Giro d'Italia, in which Narváez was the only rider who followed Tadej Pogacar on the final hilltop, and then beat him in the final sprint. 'If you can't beat them, join them' does not apply to UAE, who instead goes by the motto 'if you can't beat them, buy them'. So they have.

A team looking to win big and often in 2025, Narváez fit well in the role of a new Marc Hirschi, a puncheur who could go on to win one-day races in the more modest European calendar that unlike the World Tour, still features lots of races where it is possible for a rider like Narváez to win consistently. However the calendar selection for the Ecuadorian was top notch, and he entered the season running with a victory at Old Willunga Hill and a a GC win at the Tour Down Under. In February he would win the national championships in his home country, before preparing for the spring where he would have freedom to chase his results, failing at first but netting a breakthrough positon at Milano-Sanremo where a victory-hungry Pogacar needed every man he could get to help him attack Cipressa and win the fourth out of the five monuments in the sport.

After a leadout from Tim Wellens, Narváez short stint in the head of the peloton destroyed it and perfectly launched the World Champion to an attack. Pogacar didn't ultimately succeed, but the success of the work of a rider like Narváez became apparent there, as he could be used as a leadout for Pogacar's attacks and soon this became a favourite for the Emirati team.

Narváez was not a climber, but followed the team's Tour block into altitude in May and showed up as a new rider at the Criterium du Dauphiné, climbing like never before whilst maintaining his explosivity. Stage 6 into Combloux is where he would really come into his own, surviving Visma's strong attacks on the penultimate climb of the day, and then being used to leadout Pogacar into an inhumane attack on the Côte de Domancy. Only Jonas Vingegaard - barely - managed to hold the pace of (you guessed it) Wellens and Narváez, and it soon became apparent that the team could benefit from its men the most from having thse short bursts of power as the way to drop the Dane who prefers the longer and more steady efforts.

Narváez truly became a golden figure for UAE, climbing well during the Dauphiné and then having a key role for Pogacar in the first week of the Tour, leading him through the hilly and explosive finales, and specially leading him out to victory on stage 7 to the Mur-de-Bretagne when João Almeida crashed - and was eventually taken out of the race. On stage 12 to Hautacam, a climb where previously in 2022 Visma crushed Pogacar, this time around UAE crushed Vingegaard with Narváez again doing a trademark leadout for the Slovenian and distancing the entire GC field. Narváez might have revolutionized the role of a puncheur, although of course in large part this importance is owed to his evolution as a climber. The ways in which UAE could attack Visma and Vingegaard would grow with the presence of Narváez, who himself rode to a 13th place in the race after having served his purpose perfectly.

With Pogacar winning the Tour and Dauphiné with the help of Narváez, and often with direct support and influence, his role was served perfectly. The UAE rider still enjoyed some freedom late in the year, riding to a stage win in Deutschland and finishing on the podium there and at the Tour of Guangxi, but he can't be blamed for not taking another high-level victory for himself after having helped the team into some of its best moments of the year. In 2026 he should have the same role and be used as a weapon against the pure climber-oriented Visma tactics alongside Pogacar as the team aim for a fifth Tour de France win.

In hindsight it is only possible to look at Narváez signing by UAE as a an absolute success. Regardless of the amount of money that the Ecuadorian has as a salary, he has become one of the best domestiques Tadej Pogacar could've possibly hoped for, and he has at the very least one more year in his contract.