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.
Note: Cast your vote! An analysis will be done of the readers' votes.
Rúben SilvaEditor-in-Chief
A founding contributor to CyclingUpToDate since its launch in January 2022, Ruben Silva has played a central role in shaping the site’s editorial direction and long-term growth. Before joining the project, he built his experience through independent blogging at Echelons Hub and by producing race previews for Ciclismo Internacional, developing a strong analytical voice rooted in daily engagement with professional cycling.
Beyond editorial work, he has been closely involved in the expansion and coordination of CyclingUpToDate’s wider network, helping establish and support sister platforms across multiple languages. This includes ongoing collaboration with CiclismoAlDia (Spanish), CiclismoAtual (Portuguese), WielrennenUpToDate (Dutch), and RadsportAktuell (German), contributing to a shared editorial vision and consistent international coverage.
He also helps oversee editorial governance across the network, setting standards for accuracy and consistency and coordinating updates or corrections when needed.
Originally from the Porto metropolitan area in Portugal, he holds a bachelor’s degree in Geography. His path into cycling journalism was shaped not through formal media training, but through independent reporting, community engagement, and sustained on-the-ground involvement in the sport.
Over the course of his career, he has conducted approximately 100 interviews across road cycling and cyclocross, ranging from one-to-one conversations and online formats to press conferences and on-site pre- and post-race coverage. His interviews include leading riders, team managers, and prominent figures within cycling media: Tadej Pogacar, Jonas Vingegaard, Mathieu van der Poel, Primoz Roglic, Wout van Aert, Joao Almeida and Tom Pidcock; managers like Patrick Lefevere and Joxean Matxin; and YouTube personality Bryan Kennedy (BKXC)...
Within 18 months of launch, he helped grow CyclingUpToDate’s English-language platform into one of the most-read cycling news websites, built entirely from the ground up. As both a professional journalist and lifelong cycling enthusiast, his focus remains on delivering accurate, timely, and well-contextualized coverage.
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- many people advise him to grow slowly and rather do giro and/or vuelta instead of tdf. but i can totally understand that he is not satisfied with taking over once pogi declines, but instead beat him in his prime. so if he goes for tdf again, i‘m all for it. let‘s hope that pogi recovers soon!Ketterechts07-11-2026
- So gracious to offer something no-one would be prepared to pay for. The Giro is not the Tour and doesn’t command the same interest or attract the same “elite” (those willing to pay to be a part of something they consider has ego boosting potential). Roadside viewing will always largely remain free for everyone outside circuits. Introduction of a symbolic entrance to mountain climbs is worthy of exploration. Asking 1-2€ isn’t going to repulse real fans (most will spend 50-100€ on their outing that day all things included) but will prevent a portion of the total knobhead thrillseekers who will join in any large gathering as long as it’s free, just because they’re attracted to crowds, without which it it difficult for them to work up their anti-social behaviour.Jumpyjohn07-11-2026
- How is radio going to help when someone went over a cliff or bridge or off the roadside into a forest unnoticed and is laying there unconscious?Jumpyjohn07-11-2026
- Yep, next we’ll be accusing F1 drivers of avoiding Le Mans.Jumpyjohn07-11-2026
- But on what is that opinion based? Are you holding him to a different standard than others? Are you saying he should do learn to like something he doesn’t Are you saying he hasn’t achieved enough Are you saying he pretends to be better than his results? It’s actually a really strange opinion to oust if you consider it objectively or rationally. Try applying it to others or yourself by asking if not EVERYONE should then be doing more? Nobody in athletics or swimming gets criticism for not expanding their repertoire when a rival or someone else does. In fact, most who move to another event get accused of running from their rival. Opinions are boring, the reasons behind them are what count.Jumpyjohn07-11-2026
- for a medical chief to throw things like is just bad. There are already radios which were banned for spectacle. allow radios. Gps trackers are not a complete solutionabstractengineer07-11-2026
- Yeah man...PogiSloFans07-11-2026
- any rider less than 25 whether they are really ready for the position of leadership of GT is probably not the case. I think Pogi himself suffered when he was defeated by Jonas in the TDF twice. But that would be the team's job to ensure support so that they can bounce back. It requires a team and time to get back up and win after getting knocked down.abstractengineer07-11-2026
- I'm very glad he got the big late Quickstep Vuelta win and I hope he has a few left for Euskaltel-Euskadi.flyer07-11-2026
- My memories of Ivan Basso aren't good but I liked his sister Elisa ok.flyer07-11-2026
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