UAE Team Emirates - XRG have been piling up the wins and UCI points in recent weeks at the start of the 2025 season, and this is likely to continue this week in the Middle East. At the Tour of Oman, this will be the team to beat, as Adam Yates and Jay Vine form a formidable duo that will be aiming for the overall win.
Adam Yates is the reigning champion after in 2024 Finn Fisher-Black dominated the early stages, but on the famous 'Green Mountain' the Briton took over and had a comfortable win. He will be the main favourite to once again win the overall classification, even if this time around this race isn't preparation for the UAE Tour - he will instead travel back to Europe to do some more races and then prepare for the Giro d'Italia.
The likes of David Gaudu, Valentin Paret-Peintre and Wout Poels will be the main competition for the Emirati team, who will have also very capable weapons in the mountains in the form of Jay Vine who just came off the Tour Down Under, and also Rafal Majka who was one of the favourites to win the AlUla Tour but was severely affected by a fall on the first day of the race. Both should be luxury domestiques for the Briton in the key days.
There will be the debut of Belgian Florian Vermeersch in Oman as well, as he begins his serious preparation for the spring classics, and he will be joined by the very experienced Vegard Stake Laengen who is used to long stints working in the front of the peloton. The team is completed by two riders from the development team in Luca Giaimi and Tadej Pogacar's compatriot Anze Ravbar.
UAE Team Emirates - XRG for Tour of Oman 2024:
Vegard Stake Laengen
Rafal Majka
Florian Vermeersch
Jay Vine
Adam Yates
Luca Giaimi
Anze Ravbar
We're excited to head to Oman as defending champions. Here is our lineup for the #TourofOman 🇴🇲:
— @UAE-TeamEmirates (@TeamEmiratesUAE) February 4, 2025
🇳🇴 @VSLaengen
🇵🇱 @majkaformal
🇧🇪 @FlorianVermeers
🇦🇺 @JayVine3
🇬🇧 @AdamYates7
🇮🇹 #LucaGiaimi (Gen-Z)
🇸🇮 #AnzeRavbar (Gen-Z)#WeAreUAE pic.twitter.com/5Geqo1fudj