UAE Team Emirates: The Rising Force in Professional Cycling
Who Owns the UAE Cycling Team?
The UAE Team Emirates cycling team is a professional road cycling team from the United Arab Emirates. It is a men’s and women’s WorldTour team. It is sponsored by the UAE government. It is currently managed by Mauro Gianetti.
The team’s riders include Tour de France winner Tadej Pogacar and Vuelta a Espana top ten finisher Juan Ayuso. They will race on Colnago bikes.
The team’s history
The UAE Team Emirates has been going under various guises since they picked up the bones of the Lampre-Merida team in 2017. But this is the first season the team will be known as UAE Team Emirates.
The team fought hard for victories this year and came second in the overall World Tour standings behind Jumbo-Visma thanks to Tadej Pogacar’s points tally. It was also the team’s best ever performance in the Giro d’Italia as Joao Almeida, Davide Formolo and Juan Ayuso all claimed some of the top stages and placed in the general classification.
The white colourway that the team has worn since its creation is back for 2024 with a few tweaks. It is now a little more slimline and the red band that houses the ’Emirates’ half of the team logo is smaller. The team has also switched to Colnago bikes for the season. The Italian brand has long been a favourite with bike racers.
The team’s sponsors
Having risen through the ranks, UAE Team Emirates entered the highest level of professional cycling in 2017, the UCI WorldTour. This has brought a number of new sponsors to the team, including its title sponsor. The team has also partnered with ADS Securities and International Golden Group.
The team’s current sponsor is UAE’s Emirates airline which takes the name of its team, as does the bike brand, ENVE. This company makes high-performance wheels that can be seen in the major races.
The team is also sponsored by a number of other companies, some of which have been around for decades. For example, Segafredo is a coffee company owned by the Massimo Zanetti Beverage Group. The team also has a co-sponsor called Jumbo-Visma, a Dutch supermarket chain. Other sponsors include FDJ and the French bank, Cofidis. The last one is especially interesting because it demonstrates how some companies use cycling to promote their products in other countries.
The team’s riders
UAE Team Emirates entered the highest level of professional cycling, the World Tour, in early 2017. Its aim is to represent the entire nation of the United Arab Emirates and promote a healthy lifestyle through cycling.
This year, they claimed the top spot in the UCI team ranking thanks to Tadej Pogcar’s impressive haul of points. They were the first team from outside of the traditional European continent to do so. They beat Jumbo-Visma, which fought hard for every win but could only manage the overall title in the Grand Tours, and Soudal-QuickStep, who was second overall.
The team’s riders are some of the best athletes in the sport. They are all capable of winning WorldTour races, but they also work together to support their teammates. This makes for a powerful and cohesive unit.
The team’s management
As the team looks to continue its upward trajectory, a strong foundation of staff and tireless work must be in place. This is the role of general manager Mauro Gianetti, who has led UAE Team Emirates since it picked up the bones of the Lampre-Merida outfit in 2017.
The team’s management also includes sporting director Jared Peiper. He has a long history with the team, having been their sporting director for six years before taking a leave during the COVID-19 shutdown.
The new head of performance is South African Jeroen Swart, while Adriano Rotunno and Jarrad Van Zuydam from Dimension Data fill the roles of medical directors. The team’s bus is a mobile headquarters with showers, coffee machines and plenty of space to relax. Check out this video of it in action at the Giro d’Italia earlier this season.
