No Grand Tour hat-trick but "we have to be very happy with this Vuelta" insists UAE Team Emirates
Cycling
After Tadej Pogacar's Giro d'Italia and Tour de France triumphs earlier in 2024, UAE Team Emirates were looking to match the feat of Visma in 2023 with a Grand Tour hat-trick at the Vuelta a Espana. Whilst that ultimately didn't transpire, the team remains happy with their efforts in Spain.
“All things considered we have to be very happy with this Vuelta," insists Marco Marcato, UAE Team Emirates sports director, in a post-Vuelta reflection on the team's official website. "We set-out to be active in the race every day and I think it was the right strategy for us. Unfortunately we lost our leader João Almeida at the beginning of the race but we adapted our plans and we can say it worked out well. We can be proud of our riders.”
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One of those the team is surely most proud of, will be Marc Soler. A key factor in Jay Vine's King of the Mountains jersey victory, Soler was in almost every important breakaway, won a stage and was eventually rewarded for his continued efforts by receiving the super-combativity prize for the entire Grand Tour. “We have to leave this Vuelta happy,” said Soler in quotes collected by Velo. “It was a shame about João because we think he could have challenged for the win, but the team didn’t give up.”
“After João left the race, we changed our tactic,” Soler continues. “We still wanted to get a rider in the top-10, and I did what the team asked of me, to move the race, to attack, to try to win stages,” the Spaniard concludes, a feat the team certainly achieved over the course of the three weeks of racing in Soler's homeland.
“Two years ago, I was on cloud nine, two stage wins and in the mountain jersey with a comfortable lead, ready to come to Madrid, and then disaster struck on stage 18,” King of the Mountains winner Vine said of the race. “And now to finish that up is fantastic, especially after the year that I had. I feel like my season is just starting, so I’m looking forward to the rest of it.”
“It’s pretty incredible. The recovery that I’ve had is amazing,” Vine concluded. “At the time, we didn’t really know if I would be able to ride again, let alone compete. So to be able to be here with the jersey, it was like a dream. To actually be able to pull it off is amazing.”
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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- He should have been allowed to go to Movistar. Right now both arent a good fit for each other and are just wasting each other's time and effortabstractengineer08-11-2026
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Rafionain-Glas08-11-2026 - i did not see it. was the relegation justified or an overly hard decision? and don‘t cross riders deviate from straight lines all the time? bumping into each others when they cut corners, etc … why being more strict with the rules on the finish sprint?Ketterechts08-11-2026
- seems like we are advertising the website with pointless comments…Ketterechts08-11-2026
- So?Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- The UCI do have their favorites.
Front24208-11-2026 - On a positive note, you maybe notice turning this topic into a discussion has the benefit of eliminating certain participants who do not see how they can turn it back to their sole interest ;-)Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
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🏆🏆🏆 3 stages wins @BrandonMcNult @AdamYates7 @solermarc93 . 🔵⚪️ King of the Mountains classification @JayVine3 . ⚔️ A well deserved Supercombative award for @solermarc93 . 🚴🚴🚴 The Best team #UAETeamEmirates. Gracias #LaVuelta24 ! #WeAreUAE
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