“Adam Yates will not only be there to support Tadej, he is co-leader" says UAE Team Emirates' Mauro Gianetti

The question over who has the better support, UAE Team Emirates' Tadej Pogacar? Or Jumbo-Visma's Jonas Vingegaard? Is one of the big unknowns heading into the 2023 Tour de France. According to Mauro Gianetti, Adam Yates is more than just another domestique.

Gianetti, team manager at the UAE Team Emirates, was recently interviewed by L'Équipe and he gave some insight into the tactics of the team for the upcoming Maillot Jaune battle. “Tadej is not yet completely free from his injury. We must be careful. We can say that he will start the Tour a lot fresher this year, but he now also has to compete against even stronger opponents," he explains. “Adam will not only be there to support Tadej, he is co-leader. We cannot do otherwise.”

If this is indeed the case and Yates, a three-time former top 10 finisher at the Tour de France, shows some good form, the possibility is there for UAE Team Emirates to give Jumbo-Visma a taste of their own medicine after twelve months ago, Pogacar was outnumbered by the pair of Primoz Roglic and Jonas Vingegaard.

With the yellow and black duo launching repeated attacks, Pogacar was forced to chase both riders down. Eventually the elastic snapped and Vingegaard managed to put time into the Slovenian, taking the Yellow Jersey. Could we see something similar happen again this year, except this time around, Yates and Pogacar will be double-teaming the Dane?