12 months after he blasted up Willunga Hill to lay the foundations for victory in his first-ever stage race in UAE Team Emirates-XRG colours, Ecuador’s Jhonatan Narváez is set to make his return to the Tour Down Under this January, his squad confirmed on Tuesday.
The 28-year-old former Giro d’Italia leader and 2024 Tour Down Under runner-up finished the 2025 season well with a third place overall at the Tour of Guangxi. Three months on, Narváez looks to have every intention of a top-level start in Australia’s premier men’s World Tour event.
Alongside Narvaéz, UAE Team Emirates line-up also includes 2023 ‘Down Under champion Jay Vine and Tour de France podium finisher Adam Yates, the British star making his debut in Australia.
“Coming back to the Tour Down Under as defending champion is a special feeling,” Narvaéz said in a team press release.
“Last year’s win was a big moment. To start my career at UAE with that result was amazing and set the tone for the year.
“2025 was an incredible season for our whole team – we showed how strong and united we are. Now we start again from zero, with the same ambition and hunger to keep building on that success.”
While Portugal’s Ivo Oliveira returns to the Tour Down Under for UAE for the first time since 2019, Colombian sprinter and teammate Juan Sebastián Molano, like Adam Yates, will be racing there for the first time.
Much of the initial spotlight, though, will fall on Narvaéz and Vine, the team’s two defending champions from 2025 and 2023. Interest will be high to see if UAE’s record-breakingly successful total of wins from the 2025 season can continue in Australia, a tally already started in 2026 by Vine’s victory in the National Championships elite men’s time trial last week in Perth.
“I’m really excited to be lining up with the boys for TDU. It’s honestly one of my favourite races on the calendar — racing on Aussie roads, having my family with me, and having the Aussie crowds cheering you up Corkscrew” – where Vine still holds the Strava record from stage 2 of 2023, with a time of 6:14 – “is pretty…
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