More superstar support for Tadej Pogacar? UAE reportedly eye French classics ace in major 2026 transfer move
Cycling
The world’s most dominant squad, UAE Team Emirates - XRG, are reportedly closing in on another marquee signing — with French classics specialist Benoit Cosnefroy tipped to join Tadej Pogacar’s powerhouse from 2026.
According to La Gazzetta dello Sport journalist Ciro Scognamiglio, UAE are in advanced talks with the 30-year-old, whose contract with Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team expires at the end of this season. Despite being one of France’s most consistent one-day performers of the past decade, Cosnefroy has yet to renew, leaving the door wide open for a big-money move.
From crash frustration to career crossroads
It’s been a frustrating year for Cosnefroy, who hasn’t raced since crashing on stage one of the Tour de Suisse back in June — a setback that derailed his hopes of competing at both the French Championships and the Tour de France. Still, his long-term pedigree and attacking style have ensured his name remains high on the list for teams chasing proven winners.
A rider built for punchy classics, Cosnefroy owns an enviable 21 professional victories, including the Grand Prix Cycliste de Québec, the Bretagne Classic, and the Brabantse Pijl (La Flèche Brabançonne) in 2024.
Cosnefroy celebrating his only win of 2025
UAE continue to build around Pogacar’s all-conquering core
For UAE, the interest fits their ongoing strategy: surrounding Pogacar with experienced riders who can both support him and seize chances of their own. After nearing 100 victories this season, the Emirati outfit are intent on pushing those numbers even higher in 2026 — and riders like Cosnefroy offer both tactical depth and guaranteed firepower.
If the deal is finalised, it would see Cosnefroy join a star-studded UAE line-up already packed with all-rounders and punchers — the perfect setting for a rider whose instinct is to race aggressively from the front.
Cosnefroy’s standout victories
Cosnefroy’s reputation is built on his consistency in one-day races and short stage events. Among his standout wins are:
- Grand Prix Cycliste de Québec (2022)
- Bretagne Classic – Ouest-France (2021)
- De Brabantse Pijl – La Flèche Brabançonne (2024)
- Grand Prix du Morbihan – three-time winner (2019, 2024, 2025)
- Tour des Alpes-Maritimes et du Var (2024)
- Paris–Camembert (2019, 2024)
- Étoile de Bessèges (2020)
- Tour du Limousin (2019)
Add to that a Grand Prix La Marseillaise title (2020) and multiple national-level triumphs, and it’s easy to see why UAE see him as an ideal fit for their classics ambitions.
If confirmed, the move would mark the biggest step yet in Cosnefroy’s career — and another statement of intent from a UAE Team Emirates - XRG project that shows no sign of slowing down.
Kieran WoodDeputy Editor-in-Chief
Kieran Wood is a sports journalist based in Wales and has been active in journalism since 2022. He regularly contributes to DartsNews.com and CyclingUpToDate.com, where he covers professional cycling and darts. In cycling, his work includes liveblogs from major races, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España, alongside race reports and analysis. He has also conducted interviews with professional riders.
His reporting spans the full racing calendar, from one-day classics to stage races, with a focus on accurate, real-time coverage and clear contextual analysis. For statistics, results, and historical context, he regularly uses resources such as ProCyclingStats. To support reporting on rider activity and training context where relevant, he also references Strava.
In his work, Kieran places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles as new, verified information becomes available.
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- Just looked again at the photo. Yeah I stand by that. If MS had fallen over in Brands direction I don’t even think she would have hit her. You must be a UCI race commissioner. I’ll be sure to check my sock height should I ever see you on a ride. Looks like everyone else on here sees what I see.mij08-11-2026
- I said looking at the photo it doesn’t appear she deviated. Chill out, not stating my word is the final judgement. Just commenting that based on the photo I don’t see it. And BTW the Dutch coach even said she didn’t impede her.mij08-11-2026
- Blah Blah Blah !frieders308-11-2026
- MS said she was changing gears so that caused her slight deviation. Nothing was intentional.frieders308-11-2026
- How can you use a photo post incident to judge the incident itself (which is not hard to find if you’re prepared to invest the same amount of time in searching as writing that comment? It’s harsh but technically right even though this or worse is not always sanctioned in every race. The two things that went against MS (who unfortunately for her would still have won without making her mistake) are that it was not a bunch sprint where there could have been an overlooked incident or mitigating circumstances explaining a deviation. Everything was focused on just those 2, Schreiber was riding beautifully balanced which made her sudden deviation look unnatural stroke as if it could have been in some part intentional whilst she was slowly drifting ever closer towards the barrier to a point that would have reached obstruction level. In her defence, it might have been the realisation she was heading towards that that made her react suddenly and caused the deviation involuntarily. In any case, congratulations to her for the ride of her life, in people’s minds she will be credited for it.Jumpyjohn07-11-2026
- Good boy Obviously doesn’t need that much help dealing with pressure, as some have suggested. Wiser (and humbler) than many far further along their careers. About offering him the moon, recently someone came up with an explanation of the downfall of a football great (either referring to Maradona or Portuguese Ronaldo) saying it was kind of normal after coming back from the moon, except that others, including some who actually did go to the moon like Armstrong (Neil in case anyone is too switched off to realise) didn’t go through any of the same motions after coming back. A lot of how you deal with situations has less to do with the situation than with your character.Jumpyjohn07-11-2026
- I think that they're not really used to dealing with this type of incident in a cyclocross race, and the situation has been magnified because it was a race for a championship title. It's very unfortunate that the race had to be decided in this way.
santiagobenites07-11-2026 - Seriously why do they keep doing stupid things like this. Its one thing to relegate when the placings are minor, when the action is blatant. But when it is ambiguous, why dont they at least take advice from some higher up to avoid embarrassing themselves. This is similar to the Halland goal when his teammate was clearly offside and interfered in play and VAR gave them the goal. if you dont have evidence you cannot convict. Even for doping they have these rulesabstractengineer07-11-2026
- So all those who went to watch, including all from abroad, waled there, spent nothing? Most places hosting events of the sort manage to make it worthwhile. If it was so obviously fruitless, don’t you think by now they’d have run out of hosting candidates? Why do you think the Tour can command such high prices for departure and arrival locations? If it didn’t bring anything locally they’d have to pay to get authorisation to use cities.Jumpyjohn07-11-2026
- What a travesty ! That little deviation did nothing to impede Brand !frieders307-11-2026
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Info @Gazzetta_it - Benoit Cosnefroy, in this moment out of contract for 2026, in talks to join @TeamEmiratesUAE for next season, sources confirmed us @cycling_podcast
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