UAE Team Emirates won the UCI rankings. The team searched this goal and won extensively throughout the season, having Tadej Pogacar winning all throughout the year at the very highest level once again.
UCI ranking 2023: 30.958 (1st)
Victories (World Tour): 57 (28)
Top riders in UCI rankings: Tadej Pogacar (1st)
Rating - 9.06
Rúben Silva (CyclingUpToDate): 9. UAE, the sponsor, got what they wanted: The UCI rankings win. But they were not the number 1 team this year. But I won't let that take away anything to what they've done. 57 wins and Tadej Pogacar as the headliner. Winning Jaen Paraiso Interior, Andalucia, Paris-Nice, Tour of Flanders, Amstel Gold Race, Flèche Wallone, nationals, Il Lombardia and podium at Giro dell'Emilia and World Championships. Of course also a second place at the Tour de France where he battled but lost against Jonas Vingegaard. He did what he had to do however. Adam Yates had a terrific and career-best season; João Almeida and Juan Ayuso also performed very well when healthy. All else was chasing World Tour points. Of course, the team did do quite well, picking good calendar and having several riders focusing in these races. Marc Hirschi, Diego Ulissi, Tim Wellens, Felix Grossschartner... they all scored well, whilst Juan Sebastián Molano had a strong season and proved himself as the team's sprinter after many others left - and are leaving.
Kieran Wood (CyclingUpToDate): 9. Take away Jumbo-Visma’s Grand Tour heroics and UAE Team Emirates were undisputedly the Team of the Year. Successes throughout the campaign, spearheaded of course by the superstar that is Tadej Pogacar. Securing a podium at the Giro d’Italia through João Almeida, Pogacar and Adam Yates on the podium at the Tour de France plus Juan Ayuso being the ‘best of the rest’ at the Vuelta a Espana, add to that two monument successes and Paris-Nice from Pogacar, a Tour de Romandie win through Yates and many more it was a true season to be remembered, despite missing a Grand Tour victory.
Ondřej Zhasil (CyclingUpToDate): 9.5. Can we even really blame UAE Team Emirates for losing Tour de France against the alien from fisher's bay? Tadej was flying all year long, three-peating Il Lombardia, winning one of the most epic editions of Ronde, and two of the three Ardennes classics. 7 GT stages, three GC podiums, two monuments and three major classics... that's not that bad for a 'bad year', is it?
Juan Larra (CiclismoAlDia): 9.5. To score more points than Jumbo-Visma in the year that the Dutch team managed to win all three grand tours speaks volumes about the consistency of a UAE team in a campaign in which Tadej Pogacar failed to win the Tour de France for the second year in a row. Despite this, his year is a beast, with victories in Lombardia, Flanders, Flèche Wallonne or Paris-Nice, several stages of the Tour and much more. Adam Yates also had a great year, finishing second in the Tour, or João Almeida, finishing third in the Giro. Juan Ayuso finished fourth in the Vuelta. We have already said that Pogacar's beastly season alone deserves an "A", but there have been many more secondary riders in UAE, such as Vine, Molano or a resuscitated Hirschi.
Jorge Borreguero (CiclismoAlDia): 9. It is not possible to speak of a perfect year for the UAE because in their main objective, the Tour de France, they were once again beaten for the second consecutive year by Jumbo-Visma. However, with 28 victories at World Tour level and a Tadej Pogacar who dominates more and more (despite the defeat in the Tour, he adds two more Monuments to his palmarès, a Paris-Nice, a Flèche Wallone and an Amstel Gold Race), UAE has been the third best team in the peloton this year without a doubt.
Victor Gonzalez (CiclismoAlDia): 9.5. Tadej Pogacar has been monstrous, Adam Yates has excelled, Juan Ayuso has once again shown what he can become, and João Almeida has confirmed himself as the consistent rider he is. The UAE Team Emirates doesn't get a perfect 10 because they aimed to win a Grand Tour and have not come close to achieving it, but otherwise, they earn high honors.
Filipe Pereira (CiclismoAtual): 9. Now, UAE Team Emirates... Very close to perfection, with that Tour de France win separating both the team and Tadej Pogacar from one of the greatest seasons of all time. 2 monuments, nearly an Ardennes hat-trick. But UAE wasn't a one man band. Adam Yates had probably the best season of his career, achieving his first GT podium, the Tour de Romandie GC win and, of course, the GP Montreal. João Almeida also got his long awaited podium in the Giro and Marc Hirschi has shown signs of his former self in Hungary and Luxembourg. A great team, overshadowed by Jumbo-Visma's perfect chemistry but Pogacar's side is growing in quality, with a continuous bet on youngsters, as their Young rider jersey GT treble shows.
Carlos Silva (CiclismoAtual): 8.5. What a year. No GT GC victory, it´s a big fail to the team, whenever they have another important victory, for a team like them they don't have reasons to big celebrations. Seems Pogacar and the 3 musketeers.
Ivan Silva (CiclismoAtual): 9. 3 Grand Tour podiums, 3 young rider jersey's won, 2 monuments, 2 Top 10's at Vuelta a España, victories in stage races: Romandie, Renewi Tour, Paris-Nice and Tour Down Under aswell as victories in 1-day classics: Fleche-Wallone, Amstel Gold Race and Montreal. Fall short on Jumbo Visma mainly due to performance on Grand Tours.
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