27-year-old wins three-up sprint to take his third career national championship, ensuring another year in the jersey

A week on from his Santos Tour Down Under success for UAE Team Emirates-XRG, Jhonatan Narváez won a three-up sprint on Sunday afternoon to retain his Ecuadorian national road race championship. Pipping Jefferson Alexander Cepeda and Mateo Pablo Ramírez to the line in Cotacachi, the 27-year-old managed to take his third career national title.

Racing in UAE Team Emirates-XRG trade kit for the first time, Narváez was keen to leave his mark on the 170km-long course and retain his yellow, blue and red national champion’s jersey. As such, the recently-crowned ‘King of Willunga Hill’ continued in his aggressive style from Australia. Whittling down the day’s field to an elite composition   of three, Narváez worked well with fellow WorldTour-pro Cepeda and the young Ramírez as the final kilometres came into sight.

Well over four hours on from the flag drop, the leading trio approached the historic city of the Imbabura Province, aware that a sprint would likely decide the 2025 champion. In turn, Narváez positioned himself smartly approaching the final right-hand bend, at which point the UAE Team Emirates-XRG rider unleashed his sprint and would not be passed before the line.

Punching the air as he claimed the win, Narváez knew that the long journey back home to Ecuador had been well worth it. With another fine performance, the rider from El Playón de San Francisco has sealed his third national title and will now return to Europe resplendent in his yellow, blue and red national champion’s jersey.

“It’s very special for me to be here and to win in Ecuador,” Narváez said after the line. “It was a very hot day and a hard fought race. I had to be smart and play my cards carefully. There is no easy victories in cycling and I knew I would be marked. We were racing at altitude and that added to the difficulty . We attacked to form a group of three and we worked well together. I had a strong rival in Cepeda who put up a good fight.

“In a couple of weeks I’ll head back to Europe for the spring Classics and I’m very excited and motivated for it.”

National Championships Ecuador ME – Road Race results

1. Jhonatan Narváez (UAE Team Emirates-XRG)

2. Jefferson Alexander Cepeda (EF Education-EasyPost)

3. Mateo Pablo Ramírez (High Level-Gsport-Grupo Tormo)