The transfer market continues to move and another signing has been made official this Tuesday morning. UAE Team Emirates - XRG are one of the key teams in the peloton and every rider that goes in or out is worked to the minor detail. The new has revealed its new rider: Marco Frigo.
UAE sign Marco Frigo after five seasons at NSN
The move had previously been rumoured throughout the summer. The Emirati team had 22 riders confirmed for the upcoming season, with the Italian rouleur being the 23rd - signing a two-year deal that will see him stay all the way into the end of the 2028 season.
“I think the first four years as a pro have been a process where I shaped and found my identity as a rider," Frigo said in a press release. "I feel UAE understood that, believed in it, and that our ideas about the future are very much aligned".
The Emirati team is seeing the departure of Igor Arrieta, Pavel Sivakov, Juan Sebastian Molano and Rune Herregodts in the very least, meaning four new riders are set to come into the team. Despite the team's financial capacity, other than Frigo no rider has had credible rumours connecting them with UAE.
But Frigo appeared to be a done deal already throughout the ongoing summer, with him also recently being part of the team's lineup for the Tour de France. "With that said, I can’t wait to transform the big motivation I feel into the next years and contribute to the team achieving its big goals.”
Marco Frigo has signed with UAE Team Emirates - XRG
Frigo - A wildcard or new domestique for UAE?
In a team like UAE, as is the case with Visma, riders often change their roles taking into consideration the race they are taking part in. Frigo resembles Visma's signing of Bruno Armirail, with both riders being quite similar in stature and skillset.
Frigo is a rider who is capable of climbing quite well, but simultaneously having a notable capacity of rolling well on the flat roads. His most prominent performance of the season came at Amstel Gold Race, where he finished 10th, part of the day's early breakaway and having briefly ridden with the Remco Evenepoel group after surviving the peloton's hard pace all the way into the final kilometers.
Frigo has one professional victory to his name, achieved at last year's Tour of the Alps - once again, a solo win from the breakaway. The 26-year old is a very versatile figure, who has on several occasions been close to winning stages in Grand Tours. Recently, he was fourth during stage 4 of the Tour de France, won by Mads Pedersen on a day where the breakaway succeeded.
Frigo's natural attacking behaviour favours UAE's often aggressive racing style and stage hunting; but simultaneously his versatility could see him be deployed as a domestique for leaders such as Pogacar or Isaac del Toro. Having teammates such as Tim Wellens and Florian Vermeersch who appear to have balanced their ambitions perfectly, it could be that Frigo will have a similar role.
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- Seriously do you think when somebody gets into a serious accident, the ambulance is called by the hurt person?🤦 there is always a buddy system in place for a risky job. police , firefighters etc so that if someone gets hurt, the other call that in.abstractengineer07-11-2026
- I get the point totally. We live in the snowflake society where some riders forget they are getting paid to ride and get results. When they have a few issues they try to look outside of the real issue instead of themselves. It odd so many of the team are making no complaints and getting on with their job. If you do not like what you do find another job simples. Tough love as my mum would say.paultryan200207-11-2026
- many people advise him to grow slowly and rather do giro and/or vuelta instead of tdf. but i can totally understand that he is not satisfied with taking over once pogi declines, but instead beat him in his prime. so if he goes for tdf again, i‘m all for it. let‘s hope that pogi recovers soon!Ketterechts07-11-2026
- So gracious to offer something no-one would be prepared to pay for. The Giro is not the Tour and doesn’t command the same interest or attract the same “elite” (those willing to pay to be a part of something they consider has ego boosting potential). Roadside viewing will always largely remain free for everyone outside circuits. Introduction of a symbolic entrance to mountain climbs is worthy of exploration. Asking 1-2€ isn’t going to repulse real fans (most will spend 50-100€ on their outing that day all things included) but will prevent a portion of the total knobhead thrillseekers who will join in any large gathering as long as it’s free, just because they’re attracted to crowds, without which it it difficult for them to work up their anti-social behaviour.Jumpyjohn07-11-2026
- How is radio going to help when someone went over a cliff or bridge or off the roadside into a forest unnoticed and is laying there unconscious?Jumpyjohn07-11-2026
- Yep, next we’ll be accusing F1 drivers of avoiding Le Mans.Jumpyjohn07-11-2026
- But on what is that opinion based? Are you holding him to a different standard than others? Are you saying he should do learn to like something he doesn’t Are you saying he hasn’t achieved enough Are you saying he pretends to be better than his results? It’s actually a really strange opinion to oust if you consider it objectively or rationally. Try applying it to others or yourself by asking if not EVERYONE should then be doing more? Nobody in athletics or swimming gets criticism for not expanding their repertoire when a rival or someone else does. In fact, most who move to another event get accused of running from their rival. Opinions are boring, the reasons behind them are what count.Jumpyjohn07-11-2026
- for a medical chief to throw things like is just bad. There are already radios which were banned for spectacle. allow radios. Gps trackers are not a complete solutionabstractengineer07-11-2026
- any rider less than 25 whether they are really ready for the position of leadership of GT is probably not the case. I think Pogi himself suffered when he was defeated by Jonas in the TDF twice. But that would be the team's job to ensure support so that they can bounce back. It requires a team and time to get back up and win after getting knocked down.abstractengineer07-11-2026
- I'm very glad he got the big late Quickstep Vuelta win and I hope he has a few left for Euskaltel-Euskadi.flyer07-11-2026
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