UAE Team Emirates has named its seven man squad for the first major goal of the year: the UAE Tour. The Emirati team go into the race eager for strong results after a good showing in 2021 where Tadej Pogačar took home the race title before going on to win his second Tour de France title later that year.

 

This year’s race will run from 20-26 February and will feature seven days of racing including four flat stages, two mountain stages and an individual time trial.

 

The team has picked a dynamic squad, with defending champion Tadej Pogačar as leader for the GC along with sprinter Fernando Gaviria who will be hoping to carry over his strong form from which saw him take a stage win at the recent Tour of Oman.

 

Team Manager Joxean Matxin Fernandez (Spa) along with Sports Directors Andrej Hauptman (Slo) and Marco Marzano (Ita) will lead the following riders:

 

UAE Tour [2.UWT] – 20-Feb-2022 / 26-Feb-2022

 

Joao Almeida (Por)

George Bennett (NZ)

Mikkel Bjerg (Den)

Fernando Gaviria (Col)

Rafal Majka (Pol)

Tadej Pogačar (Slo)

Maximiliano Richeze (Arg)

 

Pogačar: “I’m really excited and motivated to start the season. The last few months went almost perfectly. I had a small setback a couple of weeks ago with Covid but luckily it didn’t disrupt my preparation too much and I’m feeling good.

 

I’m confident to lead the team, but we know how good Joao can be too. We have trained together a lot lately and understand each other well, so if he’s strong enough to win I’m also happy. Rafal Majka is also really flying at the moment. The important thing is we try and defend the title in the home race.     

 

The most obvious key stages will be the time trial and then the two mountain finishes at Jebel Jais and Jebel Hafeet on the final day. But each day will count, as we saw last year with huge crosswinds from the start of Stage 1, so I think from a spectator's point of view it will be a really nice race and I can’t wait to start.”

 

Joxean Matxin Fernandez (Team Manager): “It’s no secret that this race is one of our key objectives of the year. The aim will be quite clear- to try and defend our title from last year.

 

We’re on home soil and we know that all eyes will be on us but it’s something we’ll use as further motivation in the race. Pogačar will be our leader but the reality is it’s a squad that can adapt to any situation and we will have different cards to play, especially on the climbs. Gaviria has shown good form so far this year and proved himself with a victory, so he will be our main man for the sprint finishes.”