Jhonatan Narváez begins Skoda Tour de Luxembourg with top-10 finish

Jhonatan Narváez showed no signs of jetlag from his recent trip to Canada, with the Ecuadorian national champion at the pointy end of racing on stage 1 of the Skoda Tour de Luxembourg. Fresh from helping teammate Brandon McNulty to victory at the Grand Prix Cycliste de Montréal, Narváez rode to eighth place on the opening day.

Looking equally as fresh, McNulty remained with the GC favourites on the final climb of the day, as Richard Carapaz of EF Education-EasyPost looked to seize an opportunity. On the Côte de Stafelter, it was actually Pablo Torres of UAE Team Emirates-XRG who pushed the pace with an impressive turn of speed at the front, before Carapaz looked to counter.

As it was, the last climb was not tough enough to cause a split in the pack, resulting in an uphill sprint to the line in Luxembourg City to decide the day’s honours.

Narváez looked to secure a top placing, but ultimately, the stage was won by Romain Grégoire of Groupama-FDJ. The Frenchman unleashed a vicious acceleration at the right moment, landing him the stage win and the leader’s jersey.

With Narváez in eighth, teammate McNulty crossed the line inside the top 20, with the American’s eyes on the harder tests to come later in the week.

Skoda Tour de Luxembourg stage 1 results:

1. Romain Grégoire (Groupama-FDJ) 3:40:45

2. Marijn van den Berg (EF Education-EasyPost) s.t

3. Marc Hirschi (Tudor Pro Cycling) s.t

8. Jhonatan Narváez (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) s.t

Skoda Tour de Luxembourg general classification after stage 1

1. Romain Grégoire (Groupama-FDJ) 3:40:45

2. Marijn van den Berg (EF Education-EasyPost) +4″

3. Marc Hirschi (Tudor Pro Cycling) +6″

8. Jhonatan Narváez (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) +10″