Latest news with #UAEteamEmirates
Washington Post
a day ago
- Sport
- Washington Post
Pogačar's quest for a fourth Tour de France title backed by strong UAE Team Emirates squad
PARIS — Tadej Pogačar will be supported by an impressive squad in his quest for a fourth Tour de France title. The UAE Team Emirates leader will be surrounded by excellent all-rounders and climbers with the experience required to answer the demands of the most grueling of three-week races.
Yahoo
a day ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Pogačar's quest for a fourth Tour de France title backed by strong UAE Team Emirates squad
FILE - Slovenia's Tadej Pogacar of the UAE Team Emirates URG team crosses the finish line to win the Belgian cycling classic and UCI World Tour race Liege Bastogne Liege, in Liege, Belgium, April 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Geert Vanden Wijngaert, file) PARIS (AP) — Tadej Pogačar will be supported by an impressive squad in his quest for a fourth Tour de France title. The UAE Team Emirates leader will be surrounded by excellent all-rounders and climbers with the experience required to answer the demands of the most grueling of three-week races. Advertisement The 26-year-old Pogačar is once again the main favorite after yet another dominant season that recently saw him win the Critérium du Dauphiné, the traditional curtain riser before the Tour that generally indicates the form of the moment. The Tour de France starts on July 5 from the northern city of Lille. Pogačar's team said on Friday that he will be supported by five teammates from the Critérium du Dauphiné — Jhonatan Narváez, Nils Politt, Pavel Sivakov, Marc Soler and Tim Wellens — with João Almeida and Adam Yates rounding out the squad. Pogačar is an extremely versatile rider capable of winning on all terrains. Advertisement This year, the reigning world champion from Slovenia also won the Tour of Flanders, Strade Bianche, Liège–Bastogne–Liège and the Flèche Wallonne. His appetite for victory has drawn comparisons with the greatest cyclist of all time, Eddy Merckx. 'I'm excited for the Tour to start. I'm lucky to have had close to the perfect preparation this year — everything has gone really smoothly, especially coming off a great altitude camp with my teammates,' Pogačar said. 'The vibes in the team are amazing right now, and that gives me a lot of confidence.' If Pogačar wins the Tour, he will draw level with Chris Froome for the fifth most Tour wins of all time. Four riders — Jacques Anquetil, Merckx, Bernard Hinault and Miguel Indurain — have won cycling's biggest race five times. Pogačar's main rival through July is expected to be Jonas Vingegaard, a two-time Tour champion who will lead the Visma-Lease a Bike team. Advertisement 'Of course, you can never be fully prepared for something like the Tour de France — it's unpredictable, and that's part of what makes it so special," Pogačar said. 'I'm expecting a very high level from all the other top riders." The race features six mountain stages with five mountain finishes, and two time trials. 'The first few days should be really exciting for the fans with some open, aggressive stages, and the last week is very climbing-heavy with some iconic stages,' Pogačar said. "It's going to be a big fight all the way to Paris, but I'm ready to give everything." ___ AP cycling:
The National
5 days ago
- Sport
- The National
UAE Team Emirates power to double win with Tour de France looming on horizon
UAE Team Emirates-XRG warmed up for the Tour de France in style after securing a double European triumph over the weekend. At the Tour de Suisse, Portuguese rider Joao Almeida snatched victory from overnight leader Kevin Vauquelin by winning the Stage 8 time-trial in clinical fashion. Almeida overturned a 33-second deficit to leapfrog Vauquelin to secure the title by finishing one minute and seven seconds ahead of the Frenchman in the overall standings. Austrian Felix Gall finished 25 seconds behind Almeida on the day with Scotsman Oscar Onley third (+1min 11sec) and Vauquelin fourth (+1min 40 sec). It was a second straight stage victory – and third in total – for Almeida who admitted to nearly blowing the final stage. 'I think I started too fast,' the 26-year-old said after the closing 10.1km uphill time-trial. 'I over-paced in the beginning. In the end, I hoped to have enough gas to push in the last kilometre, but in the end it was not necessary. 'It's a lesson: you should never give up,' added Almeida, who also triumphed at the Tour de Romandie in May. 'Sometimes things go wrong and nothing is perfect, but you need to keep trying. We kept trying and we did it.' Meanwhile, Filippo Baroncini sealed his first general classification triumph at the Baloise Belgium Tour, defending his overall lead on the final flat Stage 5 in Brussels. The Italian moved into the violet leader's jersey after Stage 4 in Durbuy and secured the title after finishing four seconds ahead of British rider Ethan Hayter (Soudal Quickstep), with the Belgian Jenno Berckmoes (Lotto) a further three seconds back in third. 'I came into the race in good shape from the Giro, so I knew if things went our way this week something was possible,' said Baroncini, 24, who saw teammate Sebastian Molano take second place on the final stage. 'The goal was to win with the team because Florian [Vermeersch] was also flying. 'Stage 4 was a great stage for me, the group stayed away, and while I didn't win the stage, I was able to take the crucial time I needed in the GC. 'The team worked perfectly to defend the jersey so it was an excellent week overall.' The double success meant UAE Team Emirates reached a major milestone by sealing a 50th win of the 2025 season with the Tour de France – set to begin in Lille on July 5 – looming on the horizon. Leading the UAE charge will once again be Tadej Pogacar, who is looking to seal his fourth crown. And the Slovenian looks in ominous form having just beaten old rival Jonas Vingegaard to win his first Criterium du Dauphine title, a victory that left Pogacar 'super happy and proud'. 'We can go home happy to prepare for the Tour,' said the 26-year-old after finishing in the French Alps. 'A lot of positives and all the negatives will turn into positives so it's all good.' After securing a superb triple crown last season, there has been no signs of any let up from Pogacar in the current campaign which has seen him win the UAE Tour, Liege–Bastogne–Liege, Tour of Flanders, Strade Bianche, La Fleche Wallone and now the Dauphine. And Almeida will now turn his attentions to helping his superstar teammate retain the Tour title. 'I'll have time to enjoy this win and I'll be ready for the Tour de France,' he said on Sunday. 'I'll support Tadej Pogacar there and hope we can get more great wins.'
BBC News
19-06-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
Onley wins stage five of Tour de Suisse
Briton Oscar Onley won the fifth stage of the Tour de Suisse in an uphill sprint 22-year-old Picnic PostNL rider edged out UAE Team Emirates XRG's Joao Almeida on the 183.5 km (114-mile) mountainous stage from La Punt to Sant La Mondiale's Felix Gall was third, 23 seconds behind Hotels rider Kevin Vauquelin finished fourth to take the overall lead from Romain Gregoire, who was more than six minutes behind leads fellow Frenchman Julian Alaphilippe by 29 seconds, with Almeida third and Onley fourth, one minute 21 seconds off the lead."I felt good and just gave it a go on the last climb," said Scot Onley. "I don't win often and I've had a quite a few podiums so far this year, or quite close results, so to pull it off today is really nice for myself and my team-mates, because they do a really good job every day. Today was no different."It's nice to be able to pay them back now and again."The stage was held in memory of Gino Mader, who died at the age of 26 after a crash in the 2023 race.A statue was unveiled near the Albula Pass, the location of the six of the eight-day race is a 186.7km (116 miles) flat route from Chur to Neuhausen am Rheinfall.
Khaleej Times
15-06-2025
- Sport
- Khaleej Times
UAE Team Emirates' Pogacar wins first Dauphine ahead of Tour de France title defence
Reigning Tour de France champion Tadej Pogacar wrapped up the Criterium du Dauphine on Sunday with a podium finish in the eighth and final stage, which was won by France's Lenny Martinez. A winner of three stages in total, the Slovenian dominated the 77th edition of the Dauphine to top the overall classification by 59sec ahead of Dane Jonas Vingegaard -- three weeks before the start of the Tour de France. "It's been a really amazing week," the UAE Team Emirates rider said. "Once again today, the team did a great job. We managed to defend the (yellow) jersey and we can go home happy and prepare for the Tour." German Florian Lipowitz completed the podium, 2min 38sec behind Pogacar, while Belgium's Remco Evenepoel came fourth at 4min 21sec. Sunday's final stage was a 133.3km mountainous trek from Val-d'Arc to Val-Cenis, with an uphill finish at the Plateau du Mont-Cenis. The 21-year-old Martinez caught Spaniard Enric Mas with 8km to go to give France its first victory in this Dauphine, finishing 34sec ahead of Vingegaard and Pogacar. Vingegaard tried to catch Martinez but was unable to shake off Pogacar. The Dane and the Slovenian then stopped attacking and rolled in together. Pogacar now has 99 victories to his name -- a record for an active rider at just 26 years of age. "There's a lot of positives from this week and we turned all the negatives into positives, so it's all good," said Pogacar, who bounced back from a poor time-trial performance in stage four to lay down the gauntlet to his principal Tour rivals. "There's not much to do ahead of the Tour. I rest a bit, maybe some extra work for the time-trial, and then I'm ready," the three-time Tour winner added. The 2025 Tour de France runs from July 5-27, with Pogacar the firm favourite following his first Dauphine crown.
