"Tadej Pogacar even led me out for a sprint — that tells you everything": Unsung UAE hero emotionally reflects before six-year spell ends with Jayco AlUla move

For six years, Alessandro Covi was one of those quiet constants within the ever-expanding empire of UAE Team Emirates - XRG — a rider whose name rarely stole headlines but whose fingerprints were all over the team’s most dominant era.

Now, as the 27-year-old Italian closes one chapter and opens another with Team Jayco AlUla, he has reflected on the journey, the friendships, and one unforgettable gesture from Tadej Pogacar that, as he puts it, “tells you everything”.

Speaking in an extensive interview with Bici.Pro, Covi revealed that Pogacar had once surprised the team by volunteering to lead him out in the final stage of the 2023 Vuelta a Andalucia — despite already having three stage wins to his name that week. “During the meeting on the bus, Tadej just said, ‘Today we sprint for the Puma,’” Covi recalled. “In the finale, he and Tim Wellens made the lead-out train for me. I finished second behind Fraile — but it was the last win of his career. I still remind Tadej of it sometimes.”

Covi’s final race in UAE colours came at the 2025 Veneto Classic, after which he allowed himself a moment to reflect — and even, he admitted, to get emotional. “I enjoyed every single race in the last month and a half,” he said. “There was always someone to say goodbye to — a teammate or staff member I might never see again. The racing itself doesn’t change, we’ll still meet in the peloton, but something truly beautiful has ended.”

After contributing two victories this year — including a stage at the Vuelta Asturias — and playing a key supporting role in Isaac Del Toro’s breakout season, Covi moves on with a deep sense of gratitude. “More than the racing, it’s the time spent together off the bike that makes it special,” he explained. “Those forty-eight hours around a race are what you remember most — they’re what build the strongest bonds.”

Leaving UAE means stepping away from cycling’s most dominant team of recent years. For Covi, that success was no accident. “It was amazing to be part of the transformation that made us the best team in the world,” he said. “At the start of the year, none of us thought we could reach 96 victories — and yet we did. From the inside, it was fascinating to experience what a truly winning mentality looks like.”

Pogacar and Del Toro, Covi says, share that mentality — along with a sense of perspective often lost in professional sport. “They both live without pressure, in a normal way,” he said. “Pogacar is probably the number one in history, yet he’s carefree and light-hearted. And in Del Toro, I see a similar talent — even if right now, Tadej is still a step above.”

After years spent helping others win, Covi hopes Jayco AlUla will give him the space to chase his own ambitions. “I’ll take everything I’ve learned to the new team,” he said. “I want to use that experience to help them, but also to grow personally. At 27, it’s the right time.”

For the “Puma of Taino”, it’s the end of a defining era — one that began back in 2018 when he first joined the UAE setup as a young stagiaire. “I was a Lampre fan as a kid,” he smiled. “To walk into that team and be surrounded by riders like Rui Costa, Kristoff, Ulissi, Gaviria and Aru… it was almost intimidating. I didn’t even know where to sit at dinner.”

Six years on, Covi departs not as the shy newcomer, but as one of the trusted engines behind UAE’s dominance — a rider respected by teammates and remembered by fans who know the sport’s deeper stories. And if Pogacar’s spontaneous lead-out is any indication, the feeling inside that team was very much mutual.