Gal Glivar: the promising Slovenian who had no room at UAE Team Emirates and is looking to make a name for himself at Alpecin-Deceuninck

Gal Glivar was seen as one of the main promises of the UAE Team Emirates roster back in 2023. The Slovenian won several races on the under-23 circuit and ended the season as a trainee in the UAE's senior team. In 2024, at UAE Team Emirates Gen Z, he managed 4 wins and also stood out with a 3rd place in the Il Lombardia under-23, however, he has now ended up at Alpecin-Deceuninck.

In an interview with the Slovenian website Siol, Glivar spoke about his first contact with Alpecin: "Immediately after the Slovenian national championships, at the end of June, I received an offer from Alpecin and I told the UAE management, where they gave me the green light for the transfer," he recalls. "I signed the contract on the 2nd day of the Tour de France. Everything went well and in the end we were all happy."

When asked about the possibility of staying with the best team in the world, Glivar assumed that before the offer from the new team, there was no proposal to renew: "We talked about it, but I never received an offer," the Slovenian prospect explains. "As soon as I received the invitation from Alpecin-Deceuninck, I jumped at the chance."

Defining himself as a rider for short, explosive climbs, Glivar hopes to use this sprinting ability to win races with a bunch sprint finish, in a team where he will obviously have more space and that was one of the main reasons for the transfer: "Anyway, at UAE there are more champions and it's harder to get a chance, at Alpecin there are fewer riders to lead and the races are well distributed. I was very surprised by this season's program," he says. The 2025 calendar includes the first stage race of the year, the Tour Down Under, but also the Volta ao Algarve in February. For now, only the calendar up to the Criterium du Dauphiné is known, so it's not known whether he'll fulfill his dream of making his debut in the Tour de France or another Grand Tour.

The 22-year-old also highlighted Alpecin's concern for the details and the health of the athletes, "At Alpecin, they place a lot of importance on the little things. We have a medical check-up every morning and a lot of work is done to ensure complete well-being. It's not just about looking at the numbers," he concludes with optimism.