UAE Team Emirates XRG

UAE Team Emirates XRG (UCI team code: UAD) is an Emirati road bicycle racing team. The team competes at the UCI WorldTeam level and has done so since the UCI World Tour was formed as the top category of road cycling in 2005.

Source: Wikipedia

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UAE Team Emirates XRG

Since becoming UAE Team Emirates in 2018, the team has won the Tour de France four times and the Giro d'Italia once, with Slovenian rider Tadej Pogačar. Pogačar has also won the Monuments of Giro di Lombardia (5 times), Liège–Bastogne–Liège (3 times) and Tour of Flanders (2 times) for the team.

The "XRG" in the current team name indicates the addition of UAE energy sponsor XRG as co-title sponsor and the official energy partner in late 2024, for a 6-year partnership.

The team at the 2023 Paris–Nice

The team at the 2025 Tour de Hongrie

History

UAE Team Emirates XRG

The team was established in 2017 as UAE Abu Dhabi before being renamed UAE Team Emirates in 2018. It is sponsored by the UAE government and the team has achieved notable success in various prestigious races, including stage wins and overall victories in Grand Tours (the Tour de France, Giro d'Italia, and Vuelta a España) and one-day races. The team was temporarily suspended from the ProTour in 2010, missing one ProTour event.

Chinese involvement

In August 2016 the team (then called Lampre-Merida) confirmed that its WorldTeam licence was being transferred from CGS Cycling to Chinese company TJ Sport Consultation, with the team becoming the first Chinese WorldTour team from 2017. Former Saunier Duval–Prodir team manager Mauro Gianetti was announced as the co-ordinator for the project.

In an interview with La Gazzetta dello Sport the following month, Saronni confirmed that he and CGS Cycling would continue to manage the team on TJ Sport's behalf, and that the team's bicycles would be supplied by Colnago. He indicated that the project was being co-ordinated by the Chinese government via TJ Sport with involvement from a number of Chinese companies including Alibaba, and that its aim was to develop Chinese cycling and riders.

When the UCI awarded 17 WorldTour licences to teams in November, it announced that TJ Sport's application was "under review" by its Licensing Commission. According to Saronni, the reason for the delay was that the head of the TJ Sport project, Li Zhiqiang, had fallen seriously ill, which prevented funding for the project from being confirmed.

Emirati rescue

As a result, the team looked elsewhere for sponsorship, securing funding from the United Arab Emirates and changing its name to UAE Abu Dhabi. The UCI confirmed the team's WorldTour licence on 20 December. In February 2017, the team announced that airline Emirates had signed on with the team as a naming-rights sponsor. The team was subsequently known as UAE Team Emirates.

In June 2017, two days before the 2017 Tour de France the team announced it would also be sponsored by the First Abu Dhabi Bank, an amalgamation of the First Gulf Bank and the National Bank of Abu Dhabi, with their logo being added to the chest and side of the team's jersey. Additionally, in December 2024, the Abu Dhabi-based energy company XRG was added as a team co-title sponsor and the official energy partner, for at least a six-year term, resulting in the latest team name change.

Team roster

UAE Team Emirates XRG

<table><thead><tr><th></th><th>Rider</th><th>Date of birth</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td> João Almeida (POR)</td><td>5 August 1998</td></tr><tr><td> Igor Arrieta (ESP)</td><td>8 December 2002</td></tr><tr><td> Filippo Baroncini (ITA)</td><td>26 August 2000</td></tr><tr><td> Mikkel Bjerg (DEN)</td><td>3 November 1998</td></tr><tr><td> Jan Christen (SUI)</td><td>26 June 2004</td></tr><tr><td> Benoît Cosnefroy (FRA)</td><td>17 October 1995</td></tr><tr><td> Isaac del Toro (MEX)</td><td>27 November 2003</td></tr><tr><td> Felix Großschartner (AUT)</td><td>23 December 1993</td></tr><tr><td> Rune Herregodts (BEL)</td><td>27 July 1998</td></tr><tr><td> Julius Johansen (DEN)</td><td>13 September 1999</td></tr><tr><td> Vegard Stake Laengen (NOR)</td><td>7 February 1989</td></tr><tr><td> Brandon McNulty (USA)</td><td>2 April 1998</td></tr><tr><td> Juan Sebastián Molano (COL)</td><td>4 November 1994</td></tr><tr><td> António Morgado (POR)</td><td>28 January 2004</td></tr><tr><td> Jhonatan Narváez (ECU)</td><td>4 March 1997</td></tr><tr><td></td><td>Rider</td><td>Date of birth</td></tr><tr><td> Domen Novak (SLO)</td><td>12 July 1995</td></tr><tr><td> Ivo Oliveira (POR)</td><td>5 September 1996</td></tr><tr><td> Rui Oliveira (POR)</td><td>5 September 1996</td></tr><tr><td> Adrià Pericas (ESP)</td><td>26 May 2006</td></tr><tr><td> Tadej Pogačar (SLO)</td><td>21 September 1998</td></tr><tr><td> Nils Politt (GER)</td><td>6 March 1994</td></tr><tr><td> Pavel Sivakov (FRA)</td><td>11 July 1997</td></tr><tr><td> Marc Soler (ESP)</td><td>22 November 1993</td></tr><tr><td> Pablo Torres (ESP)</td><td>10 November 2005</td></tr><tr><td> Kevin Vermaerke (USA)</td><td>16 October 2000</td></tr><tr><td> Florian Vermeersch (BEL)</td><td>12 March 1999</td></tr><tr><td> Jay Vine (AUS)</td><td>16 November 1995</td></tr><tr><td> Tim Wellens (BEL)</td><td>10 May 1991</td></tr><tr><td> Adam Yates (GBR)</td><td>7 August 1992</td></tr></tbody></table>

Major wins

UAE Team Emirates XRG

Since becoming UAE Team Emirates in 2018, the team has won the Tour de France four times and the Giro d'Italia once, with Slovenian rider Tadej Pogačar. Pogačar has also won the monuments of Giro di Lombardia (4 times), Liège–Bastogne–Liège (3 times) and Tour of Flanders (2 times) for the team.