UAE-TEAM EMIRATES
Riders: 30 Under 26: 9 Over 35: 0
Key stat: On average, the team won once every four race days in 2022, with Tadej Pogačar accounting for a third of their 48 victories
How was the off-season?
The headline signings of Adam Yates, Jay Vine and Tim Willens will strengthen their stage racing options (Vine won the first Worldtour stage race of the season at the Tour Down Under), but the exit of Fernando Gaviria (Movistar) indicates the team’s waning interest in sprinting.
Nevertheless, the team’s general manager Matxin Fernández insists to CW that the team “have riders in every position who can be the best in the world”.
Biggest challenge
UAE are looking for outright dominance. “We are searching to be competitive in every single race,” Fernández says. “When we sign riders for a lot of years, and especially young ones, the challenge is not to win something once, but to
win a lot, and to maintain that position at the top.”
Man on the spot
João Almeida, 24, keeps coming close in Grand Tours – a fourth, fifth, sixth and a stage 18 DNS due to Covid when fourth in last year’s Giro – but the Portuguese has yet to turn promise into a podium. “Due to circumstances, due to his youth showing at certain times, we’re still waiting,” Matxin adds. “There’s no doubt he could have gotten a podium last year. João has the mentality to win.” The Giro-vuelta double is his goal.
Ones to watch
After coming third on his Vuelta a España debut, 19-year-old Juan Ayuso is aiming to become the youngest ever winner of his home Grand Tour this September.