ANALYSIS: Del Toro for Giro, Pogacar for Tour, Almeida for Vuelta? How UAE could balance delicate leadership dynamic in 2026

UAE Team Emirates – XRG are heading into the 2026 season with an enviable problem. After years of building almost entirely around Tadej Pogacar, the emergence of Isaac Del Toro as a Grand Tour revelation and João Almeida’s steady climb towards elite GC status have opened up a fresh internal debate: who leads where next year?

The departure of Juan Ayuso has, in some ways, simplified matters. The Spaniard never found the Grand Tour leadership role he craved and will now seek that freedom at Lidl-Trek. But with Del Toro’s rapid rise and Almeida’s maturity, UAE now boast three genuine contenders for three different three-week races — a luxury few teams in history have enjoyed.

UAE’s ambitions are clear. Since Visma’s clean sweep of the Giro d’Italia, Tour de France and Vuelta a Espana in 2023, the Emirati super-team have made no secret of wanting to match — or surpass — that feat. The Tour remains the crown jewel, but team boss Joxean Matxin and his staff are now shaping plans to spread their firepower more strategically.

After his remarkable breakout this season, logic suggests the Giro should belong to Isaac Del Toro. The Mexican prodigy was forced into a support role in 2025 yet still proved the strongest of UAE’s riders, leading the race for multiple stages before the team’s internal hierarchy ultimately cost him a chance at overall victory.

With Pogacar potentially targeting the cobbled Monuments — Milano-Sanremo and Paris-Roubaix remain glaring gaps on his record — and his usual Tour de France and World Championship goals, the Giro would stretch him too thin. That leaves Del Toro as the obvious captain for Italy, especially with rumours that Jonas Vingegaard will make the Giro his main 2026 target. If anyone has the fearlessness and form to take him on, it’s the 21-year-old Mexican.

At the Tour, there will be no sharing of power. Pogacar will go all-in for a fifth yellow jersey, a result that would put him level with cycling legends Merckx, Hinault, Anquetil and Indurain.

But UAE may still opt for strength in depth. Both Del Toro and Almeida could line up in support — the former gaining valuable experience ahead of future Tour ambitions, the latter eager for redemption after crashing out in 2025 while sitting as Pogacar’s key mountain lieutenant.

Visma are expected to return with another all-star roster behind Vingegaard, so UAE’s own super-domestiques could prove crucial. With that trio united, the team would arguably field the most complete climbing unit in the sport.

If Pogacar limits himself to the Tour, the Vuelta becomes Joao Almeida’s natural playground. The Portuguese all-rounder has already conquered week-long stage races like Itzulia Basque Country, the Tour de Suisse and Tour de Romandie — but the big-one still eludes him.

With Vingegaard likely skipping the Spanish race after a potential Giro–Tour double, Almeida could start as the outright favourite. His main opposition may come from Remco Evenepoel, Florian Lipowitz or Primoz Roglic, depending on how Red Bull – BORA – hansgrohe balance their leadership.

Supporting him could be Adam Yates and Brandon McNulty — both proven climbers, with the latter enjoying a breakout 2025 campaign that included overall victory at the Tour de Pologne.

UAE Team Emirates find themselves in rare territory: three Grand Tours, three world-class leaders, one luxury headache. Balancing Pogacar’s pursuit of history with the hunger of Del Toro and Almeida could define the next phase of the team’s dominance.

It’s a dilemma every other WorldTour squad would love to have — but one that Matxin and co. will need to navigate carefully if UAE are to finally match Visma’s historic 2023 triple.