UAE Team Emirates - XRG and Tadej Pogacar set to lose key domestique back to INEOS Grenadiers
Cycling
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.
Narváe leading the UAE train at the 2025 Tour de France
Narváez will return to INEOS Grenadiers after two seasons
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.
Rúben SilvaEditor-in-Chief
A founding contributor to CyclingUpToDate since its launch in January 2022, Ruben Silva has played a central role in shaping the site’s editorial direction and long-term growth. Before joining the project, he built his experience through independent blogging at Echelons Hub and by producing race previews for Ciclismo Internacional, developing a strong analytical voice rooted in daily engagement with professional cycling.
Beyond editorial work, he has been closely involved in the expansion and coordination of CyclingUpToDate’s wider network, helping establish and support sister platforms across multiple languages. This includes ongoing collaboration with CiclismoAlDia (Spanish), CiclismoAtual (Portuguese), WielrennenUpToDate (Dutch), and RadsportAktuell (German), contributing to a shared editorial vision and consistent international coverage.
He also helps oversee editorial governance across the network, setting standards for accuracy and consistency and coordinating updates or corrections when needed.
Originally from the Porto metropolitan area in Portugal, he holds a bachelor’s degree in Geography. His path into cycling journalism was shaped not through formal media training, but through independent reporting, community engagement, and sustained on-the-ground involvement in the sport.
Over the course of his career, he has conducted approximately 100 interviews across road cycling and cyclocross, ranging from one-to-one conversations and online formats to press conferences and on-site pre- and post-race coverage. His interviews include leading riders, team managers, and prominent figures within cycling media: Tadej Pogacar, Jonas Vingegaard, Mathieu van der Poel, Primoz Roglic, Wout van Aert, Joao Almeida and Tom Pidcock; managers like Patrick Lefevere and Joxean Matxin; and YouTube personality Bryan Kennedy (BKXC)...
Within 18 months of launch, he helped grow CyclingUpToDate’s English-language platform into one of the most-read cycling news websites, built entirely from the ground up. As both a professional journalist and lifelong cycling enthusiast, his focus remains on delivering accurate, timely, and well-contextualized coverage.
claps 4visitors 4
Just in
Popular news
Latest comments
- Right on. The more the merrier.Occam13-11-2026
- Remember, Del Toro struggled in this Tour. He is great, no doubt about that, but comparing him to a four time gt winner is absurd at this point. He has the potential. We'll have to see how he develops.awp13-11-2026
- what did Jonas gift and to whom? just curious, haven’t heard about this.mij13-11-2026
- You don't gift grand tours as it has come to light that Jonas has come to regret doing such.
Front24213-11-2026 - Exactly you said it urslf - he outclimbed del toro by 19 sec. 19SEC and you say hes alot better than del toro still lol? And can also do the same where del toro did that to jonas even and del toro dauphine numbers better than jonas all year so why this hard whats the issue its super easy stuff - del toro wasnt that before. Then factor in both their trajectory the last years and the answer is self explonatory like i said. Nothing against jonas like many do but the typing is no the wall and so stupidly easy as its so self explanatory now. Have a good daymiguel13-11-2026
- Dirty ex doperFront24213-11-2026
- As far as points go they need to take a page or ten out of the Astana playbook!Lozza13-11-2026
- Ah, seems he’s been busy elsewhere! 😆Lozza13-11-2026
- Where is he when you need him!? Wake up man! You’re missing an opportunity!Lozza13-11-2026
- A very true statement made by Johan Bruyneel: "We don’t know for sure about Jonas, because he dropped out of the Tour de France, but he would never have come close to Pogacar. Maybe he would have finished second. He won the Giro in dominant fashion and the Vuelta the year before, but Visma wants to win the Tour." That's exactly what I've been saying the last six months. If Pogi races with Jonas, the most he can be is second... UNLESS... Pogi crashes out or makes a BIG mistake, which is not likely to happen. Either Bruyneel thinks the way I do or he reads my posts. Ad acta!!!PogiSloFans13-11-2026
Loading
3 Comments