"My choice was the right one" - Pavel Sivakov on switch INEOS with UAE; working with Tadej Pogacar at the Tour de France

Pavel Sivakov made the switch from INEOS Grenadiers to UAE Team Emirates - XRG in 2024 and he considers it to have been the ideal decision. The Frenchman continues to have his own chances to chase results, whilst at the same time he has become a key part of Tadej Pogacar's Tour de France block.

Sivakov will soon begin his 2026 season at the Challenge Mallorca where his aggressive racing style can bring him a victory, and he will use it as preparation towards the many races he is doing this coming spring. The first of which will be the Vuelta a Andalucia where he is the defending champion, however defending it successfully is a more difficult request. “I don’t think so. They really changed the entire route and this year it should be more favourable to sprinters and puncheurs," Sivakov said to La Depeche. "We’ll see, but it won’t be the same Ruta as last year.”

He will then race the Ardèche classics, Paris-Nice, the Volta a Catalunya, all three Ardennes classics and lastly the Tour de Romandie where he will team up with the World Champion for the first time this year. A very busy schedule which will include opportunities for himself but also domestique work, as has been the case since he's been signed.

Later in the year he will race the Tour Auvergne Rhône Alpes and the Tour de France once again. His versatile role and changing set of ambitions make a perfect fit for the Emirati team, who have achieved unheard amounts of success last year. “It’s clear that knowing that at the start of the season reassures you, and it’s a sign of trust to know we’re counted on for these big objectives. We know we are part of the team around Tadej and that he’ll be happy to have us with him.”

He doesn't have as many leadership opportunities as he's had back at INEOS, where he won races such as the Tour of the Alps, Tour de Pologne and Vuelta a Burgos; but he believes his current balance is pretty ideal.

“No, honestly, I don’t regret it at all and I’m convinced my choice was the right one. I think being part of this team is the dream of many riders. We’re rewarded when Tadej wins and he wins often, but we also have the possibility to target races we can win ourselves," he explains. Now part of two Tour de France-winning teams, Sivakov can be happy to share the success as a French rider. This year, he can be part of a record-matching achievement if Pogacar is able to do it again.

“It makes you proud to belong to this collective and it’s not only the riders. The staff and all the members of the team feel it the same way. You see the race, the moment of success, the visible part, but we live entire months for these objectives and we live them all together in meetings, camps, altitude blocks. It’s rewarding work that suits us.”