"Pogacar is so strong that no matter the team there will be doubts concerning him" - UAE manager Mauro Gianetti
Cycling
Doping has been a point of concern at the 2026 Tour de France, with night-time testing for several riders including Tadej Pogacar; and constant accusations on social media. UAE Team Emirates - XRG manager Mauro Gianetti was asked about the yellow jersey, as well as his own controversial past, as the race comes to and end.
Gianetti tackles difficult doping question
GIanetti was, from 2004 to 2011, sports director the former Saunier Duval team (which was termed Geox towards its end). The likes of Riccardo Riccó and Juan José Cobo, convicted dopers, were only some of the faces in one of the teams that have most negatively the sport in its entire history.
Gianetti was one of the faces behind the team, and has hence been heavily linked with the topic of doping throughout the past decades. Despite this, he was hired to lead UAE Team Emirates - XRG upon its creation in 2017, and has guided the team towards tremendous success.
It is however because of that success that there is a lot of focus and questions regarding his past. Gianetti on his end was asked directly about Saunier Duval, and has looked to distance himself from the disgraced team.
"I made the mistake of taking them in my team. I should have reacted differently, been clearer with the press, explain that I was a victim," he said in words to L'Équipe.
Effectively, UAE's manager puts the blame on the riders themselves, arguing that in their own personal bubbles, they were executing their own programs behind Gianetti's back.
"Just as you don't know what your children do in their bedrooms, you don't know what riders do in their homes".
Mauro Gianetti and Tadej Pogacar
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Tadej Pogacar will always be subject to doubts
The other main face in UAE's management is Joxean Matxín, who was also part of the Saunier Duval team's management at the same time as Gianetti. Having these men backing up and leading the team that features what is now considered to be one of the very best riders in cycling history (if not the best) creates valid questions.
Tadej Pogacar turned professional in 2019 and has, over his career, taken 126 professional wins at age 27. Amongst these are four Tour de France overall wins (a record-matching fifth win appears inevitable this Sunday in Paris); 26 stage wins at the Tour; two World titles; 13 monuments and so much more.
Pogacar is the representative of the sport currently and races not only at a level that is vastly superior to his competitors on most terrains; his versatility is also unlike anything ever seen before. In 2025, he was the only rider to race all five monuments, and was the first in history to finish on the podium of all five.
Pogacar is a rider that is above the competition, with no sign of stopping or slowing down anytime soon. Backed by a UAE that currently has the largest budget in professional cycling, it becomes a combination that is almost impossible for 99% of the peloton to be a challenge.
The Slovenian has also been under scrutiny in this Tour, and his level is potentially the highest in his career (the 7/Wkg up Alpe d'Huez, with 35 minutes in duration, raised further questions) currently. On the maillot jaune, Gianetti believes these doubts would always appear no matter what.
"In any case, Pogacar is so strong that no matter the team there will be doubts concerning him," he argued. "I'm doing my job, I've brought more than 600 million euros into cycling, getting contracts signed, salaries…"
Rúben SilvaEditor-in-Chief
A founding contributor to CyclingUpToDate since its launch in January 2022, Ruben Silva has played a central role in shaping the site’s editorial direction and long-term growth. Before joining the project, he built his experience through independent blogging at Echelons Hub and by producing race previews for Ciclismo Internacional, developing a strong analytical voice rooted in daily engagement with professional cycling.
Beyond editorial work, he has been closely involved in the expansion and coordination of CyclingUpToDate’s wider network, helping establish and support sister platforms across multiple languages. This includes ongoing collaboration with CiclismoAlDia (Spanish), CiclismoAtual (Portuguese), WielrennenUpToDate (Dutch), and RadsportAktuell (German), contributing to a shared editorial vision and consistent international coverage.
He also helps oversee editorial governance across the network, setting standards for accuracy and consistency and coordinating updates or corrections when needed.
Originally from the Porto metropolitan area in Portugal, he holds a bachelor’s degree in Geography. His path into cycling journalism was shaped not through formal media training, but through independent reporting, community engagement, and sustained on-the-ground involvement in the sport.
Over the course of his career, he has conducted approximately 100 interviews across road cycling and cyclocross, ranging from one-to-one conversations and online formats to press conferences and on-site pre- and post-race coverage. His interviews include leading riders, team managers, and prominent figures within cycling media: Tadej Pogacar, Jonas Vingegaard, Mathieu van der Poel, Primoz Roglic, Wout van Aert, Joao Almeida and Tom Pidcock; managers like Patrick Lefevere and Joxean Matxin; and YouTube personality Bryan Kennedy (BKXC)...
Within 18 months of launch, he helped grow CyclingUpToDate’s English-language platform into one of the most-read cycling news websites, built entirely from the ground up. As both a professional journalist and lifelong cycling enthusiast, his focus remains on delivering accurate, timely, and well-contextualized coverage.
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- 18 broken bones. 78 crashes, among 30 rider per year is a lot. so for a rider over 15 seasons, they will break their bones 7-8 times and crash 38 times.abstractengineer04-11-2026
- i dont think he is ready ot win against the top 2 or the 2nd rung of evenepoel, del toro , Almeida. In the third week in the TDF he was very very defensive, no attacks. i think he was exhausted. right now he needs time not the brutal Giro or the intense TDF.abstractengineer04-11-2026
- Rota is an excellent rider to get in a break with because he always does his turnchapmanesque04-11-2026
- That 3000 extra that the Tour de France is built up in the flat stages
Rafionain-Glas04-11-2026 - maybe this is something else they can protest in the streets of France.mij04-11-2026
- his Roubaix win was amazing. not to take anything away from him - arguably one of MVDP's wins was at the expense of a WVA flat - but so many things need to line up to get one of these. He had a perfect race with fewer bike issues on an attritional course. And crazy strong as usual. Glad he got this done.mij04-11-2026
- Orts was a super smart signing with the new rules regarding cross and UCI pointsmij04-11-2026
- yeah... you're right...PogiSloFans04-11-2026
- Podcast sounds great. Two so called experts stating the f*cking obvious.wrsty04-11-2026
- A mindset that reminds me of Tim Declerq. I loved watching that guy just pound away the kilometers, hours at the front, holding an entire breakaway in check on his own. Bjerg seems like a similar guy. Curling, the team sport.RidesHills04-11-2026
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