Tadej Pogacar is the rider who's won the most in UAE's history - But who is the closest to him?

Cycling
Wednesday, 10 December 2025 at 10:45
TadejPogacar_MarcHirschi_BrandonMcNulty
UAE Team Emirates - XRG is a team that is now hugely successful, the most out of any in the modern peloton, but it is also rather recent. It doesn't carry the history of the likes of Visma or INEOS, or Movistar as a matter of fact, but it carries big winners in all fronts. So who are the riders that have won the most since the team's inception in its current form that happened back in 2017?

3/4/5. Brandon McNulty & Marc Hirschi & Isaac del Toro - 21

In a tied third place are three riders, all with different scenarios. Brandon McNulty, a stage-racer; Marc Hirschi, a classics rider who has left the team last year; and the young climber Isaac del Toro, all with 21 victories. McNulty the American has a TTT victory that isn't in his individual record, and has raised his arms on 20 occasions. Several of those not on stages themselves, as the American is a natural stage-racer and has won races such as the Tour de Pologne, Tour de Luxembourg, Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana and Cro Race on two occasions. A very strong time trialist, a strong climber and classics specialist, his versatility does him wonders. Many of his high-quality triumphs have taken place over the past two seasons, where he's gotten freedom in smaller level races and delivered. He shares these with his domestique work.
Hirschi only raced for the team from 2021 to 2024, but in this time, also managed to win 21 times. He was put on a smaller calendar in his final season (a trend in this list) so as to rack up victories and UCI points. In 2025 it was evident why the team raced in this way, as it beat records left and right. But Hirschi's triumphs weren't low level, he effectively has World Tour classics such as San Sebastián and Bretagne in his palmarès, a national title and several one-day races. A quality puncheur, he specially thrived in 2024 where besides the two World Tour races, he had seven more wins to his name.
Del Toro on the other hand, performed extensively in 2025. He opened up his tally with a World Tour win on his first race day as a pro at the Tour Down Under in 2024, and then won a stage and GC at the Vuelta a Asturias. All other 18 triumphs happened in 2025, including a double national title, a Giro d'Italia win (lacking the GC triumph that would've had him over his two peers), and then no less than (in between others) seven Italian late-season classics. With a modest calendar and tremendous legs, the Mexican wiped out the Italian scene this fall, but his wins weren't just a number, as the Giro dell'Emilia victory proves.
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Isaac del Toro has won 18 times this year. This has propelled him close to the top of the charts already in his second season. @Sirotti

2. Diego Ulissi - 23

The 36-year old is the holder of a very special record, which is that he is the rider who has won for the largest amount of consecutive years that is still active in the peloton. He has won every year since turning pro in 2010 with Lampre - the team that would later on go on to become UAE. Many of his big wins came before 2017, however the Italian rider continued to win throughout his stint in the team from 2017 to 2024 - which makes him the second rider to have spent the most years with the team as well.
23 to be exact, including an edition of the GP de Montréal; two Giro d'Italia stages in 2020; three World Tour triumphs at the Tour of Turkey and Tour de Suisse; GC wins at the Tour of Slovenia, Tour de Luxembourg, Settimana Ciclista Italiana and Tour of Austria; and several more...
A proven winner, Ulissi had a more modest calendar in recent years and hasn't won in the World Tour since 2020, but he hasn't slowed down in terms of training pace and has continued to contribute to the team's success all the way until his departure.
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Diego Ulissi was never the flashiest name, but is the second most victorios rider in the Emirati team's history. @Sirotti

1. Tadej Pogacar - 105

Pogacar is the modern day version of Eddy Merckx. In his palmarès 108 victories, 105 victories for the team. This number does not include his Zurich and Kigali World Championships titles, as well as his maiden European title in Drôme-Ardèche obtained this fall. These were obtained with the Slovenian national team. Pogacar has just turned 27 and he is by far the largest contributor to UAE's success, in virtually any parameter. When it comes to victories this is also the case, and all of his pro wins have been taken since joining the team back in 2019. When he did he was already a Tour de l'Avenir winner and also had won the GC of the Giro della Regione Friuli Venezia, but what is widely regarded as his first pro win is the 2019 Volta ao Algarve stage ending atop the Alto da Fóia. This race also saw him win an overall classification for the first time.
The rest is history. Pogacar reaches the end of 2025 with two World titles; one European road race title; four Tour de France GC's (and (21 stages); one Giro d'Italia GC (and 6 stages); five Il Lombardia, three Liège-Bastogne-Liège and two Tour of Flanders which make up for a ten-monument tally; Three Strade Bianche editions; two Flèche Wallonne titles... The list goes on and on and on...
It's easier actually to name what Pogacar hasn't won yet. For example Milano-Sanremo and Paris-Roubaix, two races he finished on the podium this spring, and should return next year in order to try and complete his mission to win all monuments - one that is very realistic, and was merely stopped by Mathieu van der Poel this year.
Pogacar simply wins everywhere he goes and this year has done so on around 20 occasions, and has been widely considered the top rider in the peloton since 2021. This sees him gather already, at this point in his career, over 100 pro wins - most of them at World Tour level too. The big question is where this number will stop, how much will he be able to win and what records will he still be able to break before retiring from cycling one day.
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