Ecuadorian continues his terrific run of form, following up his three Giro stage wins with another breakaway success in Suisse
June 19, 2026
With a fantastic show of force and determination, Jhonatan Narváez won stage 3 of the Tour de Suisse for UAE Team Emirates-XRG. The Ecuadorian won a two-up sprint from the day’s breakaway to take the honours, with the peloton coming tantalisingly close to making the catch for good.
Pipping his breakaway companion Xandro Meurisse (Pinarello Q36.5 Pro Cycling) to the stage victory, Narváez added another brilliant win to his palmarès, just weeks after taking three stages at the Giro d’Italia. Clearly still in sparkling form, the UAE Team Emirates-XRG rider spent 112km off the front of the race on Friday afternoon, before taking the Emirati squad’s 41st win of the campaign.
As the finish in Bad Ragaz approached, it looked as though the two-man breakaway would be caught, but still, the two riders continued to work in unison to extend their hopes. With the road rearing up inside the final kilometre, Narváez spotted his opportunity to launch a sprint and dash the dreams of Meurisse.
Inside the final 300m, Narváez packed a punch and delivered a knockout blow to Meurisse, with the Belgian still able to keep hold of second place across the line. The peloton, meanwhile, was less than a time split behind the pair, but would be forced to settle for third place on the day. That honour was taken by Magnus Cort of Uno-X Mobility Team.
Narváez’s teammate, Tadej Pogačar, meanwhile, finished inside the peloton to take his commanding lead of the general classification into the weekend. The Slovenian holds an advantage of a little under three minutes over Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost), with just two stages remaining.
Narváez: “It was a hard day. Especially in the last part, it was a headwind, and we rode full, Xandro Meurisse and me. So I am happy. We rode really good in the final.
“We did a mistake yesterday, and today, two riders from the team were free to chase a stage win, so I tried to go into the breakaway. Then we just rode full gas with Xandro. I am happy to have had the chance today.”
Tour de Suisse 2026 stage 3 results:
- Jhonatan Narváez (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) 3:34:46
- Xandro Meurisse (Pinarello Q36.5 Pro Cycling) s.t
- Magnus Cort (Uno-X Pro Cycling) s.t
Tour de Suisse 2026 general classification after stage 3:
- Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) 10:29:52
- Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost) +2:50
- Andrea Bagioli (Lidl-Trek) +3:07
