UAE Team Emirates - XRG and Tadej Pogacar set to lose key domestique back to INEOS Grenadiers

Jhonatan Narváez left INEOS Grenadiers at the start of the 2025 season in order to join UAE Team Emirates - XRG. Whilst the collaboration looked perfect and the Ecuadorian achieved the best performances of his career, it seems certain that he will return to the British team in 2027.

This move, which is rather unexpected due to the past between the two, was first reported by Daniel Benson. As the month of April begins and the transfer market begins in the space of only four months, another reputable source in Ciro Scognamiglio of Gazzetta dello Sport has reported that the move is virtually confirmed for later this fall.

Whilst UAE is the wealthiest team in the peloton, it can't be denied that Narváez' absence will be felt in the very heart of the team: Tadej Pogacar. The Ecuadorian rider was brought in 2025 and immediately became a key piece of the Slovenian's mountain train. He was the man who launched him on the Cipressa in 2025, debuting the team's new tactic; and at both Criterium du Dauphiné and Tour de France his level was extraordinary, climbing at a very high level whilst maintaining the explosivity that was his specialty.

This perfectly fit with Pogacar's needs and desires to attack based on vicious accelerations, instead of by pace. At the Dauphiné and Tour, Narváez often launched his attacks directly, helping the Slovenian to a fourth overall win. Nevertheless, despite his committed domestique work, he has still managed to win the Tour Down Under and national championships road race in 2025, as well as lead the team in a few late-season races where he also came close to winning the Tour of Guangxi.

This year he started the season at the Tour Down Under where he and Jay Vine dominated the queen stage, but has crashed on stage 4. Having suffered fractured vertebrae, he has been sidelined for the entire spring, and the Emirati team has been forced to look for replacements. Whilst his schedule isn't currently set in stone, he was outlined to race the Giro d'Italia, steering away from Pogacar's block, which may have been a hint of his potential departure.

Potentially because of INEOS' new sponsor NetCompany which will be the new title sponsor from the 2027 season onwards, the British team has seemingly made a strong bid to sign back the rider who wore their colours from 2019 to 2024. After two seasons away, the 29-year old is likely to return to be once again a leader for the classics and one-week races with INEOS.