Movistar Team goes after Jhonatan Narváez in attempt to resurrect their squad

With news emerging that Movistar Team's Oier Lazkano has decided to leave for the BORA - hansgrohe project, with Red Bull having agreed a contract for the next three seasons, until the end of 2027, the Spanish based outfit reportedly already have a replacement in mind.

According to GCN's Daniel Benson, Movistar wants to counteract the loss of Spanish National Champion Lazkano, who joins the loss of Matteo Jorgenson at the end of 2023, and who is already shining with Team Visma | Lease a Bike (he won Paris-Nice and Dwars Door Vlaanderen), and that of Alex Aranburu, who looks set to leave at the end of the current season, to a French team (possibly Cofidis). The replacement in question is INEOS Grenadiers' Giro d'Italia stage winner, Jhonatan Narvaez. The 27-year-old Ecuadorian rider it is believed, would restore hope to a Movistar team that is having a hard time surviving in the UCI rankings to remain a WorldTour-level team.

Movistar Team's interest in Jhonatan Narváez is no surprise. The INEOS rider went to the Giro d'Italia with the goal of performing at a high level, and already in the first stage he showed that he was not going to back down even against Tadej Pogacar. The Ecuadorian wore the Maglia Rosa on stage 2 of the race after his tremendous stage win on the opening day, snatching victory from Pogacar in a reduced sprint.

In addition, Jhonatan Narváez comes from winning the Ecuadorian road cycling championship, something he had not achieved since 2017. As such, 2024 has been a great year for him so far. We will have to see how the Giro d'Italia continues to develop, and if he will be able to another stage win in the third and final week of the Grand Tour.

Movistar Team, which in turn is also having a very remarkable Giro, with the victory of Pelayo Sanchez on stage 6, the current 9th place overall of Einer Rubio and the resurgent performance of Nairo Quintana, who almost won the queen stage.