Joshua Tarling and Sam Welsford lead INEOS Grenadiers' UAE Tour lineup in search of stage wins

INEOS Grenadiers have revealed their lineup for the 2026 UAE Tour and it is a team that mostly consists of young riders that the team is giving opportunities to. However, the British team can very well chase stage wins, as they make it to the Middle East with Joshua Tarling and Sam Welsford in their '7'.

The Australian sprinter was one of the most notable signings this winter, and also one of the latter ones. At the Tour Down Under he managed to take his maiden stage win with the team, greatly assisted at the time by Ben Swift. The winning combination has moved into the UAE now, although the team may not have as strong of a leadout as other rival teams.

Whilst Welsford is battling for the sprints, in the race's individual time trial, Joshua Tarling may be the only rider who can realistically battle Remco Evenepoel. In a 12-kilometer long effort, better suited to the Briton, we can't exclude such a surprise.

Connor Swift is going to be assisting the team on the leadouts and with positioning throughout the week where necessary, likely the same as American time trial champion Artem Shmidt. When it comes to the overall classification, the team is going to most likely give freedom to Scandinavian duo Peter Oxenberg and Embret Svestad-Bardseng to pursue their own results in a high-level World Tour race.

If the wind does not play a role in the race, then this one will be decided in the small time trial on stage 2, but mostly in the summit finishes to Jebel Mobrah and Jebel Hafeet. The previous is a new addition to the race and is an extremely difficult climb that will coincide with the finale of the third stage.