UAE Team Emirates have had a strong team this year, however with no real blocks built around any leader. They are looking to change that, to match the likes of Jumbo-Visma and other top teams, and Tadej Pogacar is satisfied with the signings the team has done over the winter.
"We’ve got some great new teammates for 2023. UAE Team Emirates are getting stronger and stronger every year," Pogacar said in a recent interview with Cyclingnews. "I’m looking forward to spending time with the new guys, training together, racing together in the early season and then targeting the main goals together. I’m enthusiastic about next season."
Inbetween the signings for 2023 are Adam Yates and Jay Vine, two of the strongest pure climbers in the peloton, who should both have their freedom on certain points, but overall build a stronger mountain team, that will also assure that more resources will be available for Pogacar's support. The signings of Felix Grossschartner and Domen Novak will further boost their capabilities.
For several years the team has had difficulties in assuring it's block in the main races. Whilst Rafal Majka and Mikkel Bjerg have cemented their place as his right-hand man, Pogacar was often isolated even this season. Although strong, the team is looking to have a block of domestiques set from the start to always provide support in both mountainous and flat stages throughout his main goals of the year.
He's managed to race with João Almeida and Juan Ayuso on occasion, but both have so far - and in 2023 will likely continue - to have their freedom in the Grand Tours. "Juan did a great Vuelta and showed he’s strong and ready to win even at just 20. I think he’s going to be a really valuable rider for the team," commented on the Spaniard.
"He can win Grand Tours in the years ahead and so we have options, which is a good thing to have. He’s not a rival; he’s a teammate." Ayuso is signed until 2028, whilst Almeida is until 2026. The trio of young riders will likely remain in the lead of the team for years to come. The addition of several climbers, alongside the likes of Brandon McNulty and Marc Soler who on occasion also thrive in the mountains, will give UAE more options than ever to fulfill their goals.
"I think it’s good we have a young generation in the sport now. We’ve had some great battles already and we’re bound to have some more great battles, in the Grand Tours and the other big races. It’s a great time for cycling. I wish I could sit on the couch and watch the battles on TV but I have to be in there fighting to win," Pogacar admitted.
On Remco Evenepoel, who he is unlikely to face in the Grand Tours in 2023, he commented: "He’s simply a good bike rider. I guess he has good genetics too. He’s very aero on the bike, has a good watts-per-kilo and then physically and mentally he’s really strong. He’s hard to beat. When we raced against each other this season, he was way better than me in one-day races, while I won Tirreno-Adriatico."
"I targeted the Tour and he targeted and won the Vuelta. I don’t know if we’ll clash in 2023 but it’ll probably be a few years before we know his true limits and ability. He’s obviously already very strong, perhaps even stronger than me," he said of the Belgian, who is set to ride the Giro d'Italia in 2023. Although it has initially been proposed, Pogacar's main goal will remain the Tour in the coming year, with his sights on recovering the yellow jersey after finishing second to Jonas Vingegaard this season.
"I never really compared myself to Merckx and so I was ready for the day when I’d finish second, even in the Tour," he continued. "Defeat happens in cycling, and a lot. It’s part of the sport and what makes winning so special. It’s given me more motivation for the next season and I'm more eager to fight back."
"We’ve only just finished the 2022 season but things move really fast in cycling these days and I’m already thinking about 2023," the Slovenian said, currently in Colombia on holidays.
"When you lose, you want to improve and come back the season after even stronger. Defeat at the Tour gives me the motivation to go back next year and win it again," he concluded.
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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- Yeah, unreal.
parisbound0008-11-2026 - there needs to be space in life for pointless comments!Ketterechts08-11-2026
- That is a very lazy way of putting it but so far on this website it seems like everyone is happy to look at everything lazily, even things that annoy them intensely. All they want to do is state their feeling and position but ask most to analyse a problem or come up with solutions or improvements and you’re stunned by silence. Nobody even really knows how this all happens. It’s very simple and quick to just say the UCI did it but I bet you they didn’t, I bet you not more than 2 people were involved, more likely just 1. The UCI may be ultimately responsible but it is not their decision, this is about hierarchy, power and delegation. The fact that protest is possible also means it isn’t over and that MORE people could get involved for a thorough review which could throw up anything. It is highly likely it was a sole commissar who decided and has that power in a first round. Therein might lie the problem the UCI has to consider, is it acceptable to give so much authority to one single person when it is quite possible for them to have a natural bias or be too easily susceptible to imposed bias. Who is to say an individual in this position isn’t susceptible to collaboration with outside players with interests in the results, nations, families, teams, betting companies, etc. On the one hand we have sports where these problems have been worked on way more to reduce such problems, on the other hand we have sports with far stricter and more draconian rules not even concerning safety or obstruction that nobody really questions like false starts or stepping out of lane or zones in athletics. If cycling hastowork on itself, it would be good if protagonists (all kinds) would start doing a little more than just moaning over outcomes.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- Yes, so why not make comments less pointless?Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- What a race! I didn't expect Vanthourenhout to collapse like that, and Wyseure did take the fight to Nys, but there was no doubt at the end. I also wonder what Aubin Sparfel would be capable of were he to race in the elites now. In the U23 ranks he is making good work of Giel Lejeune, who himself is among the better riders in the elites, and a top 10 contender in the big races (3rd at Kleebergcross, 8th at Berencross and 5th at Heerderstrand). In the French Cup, Sparfel is significantly better than Romain Debord (8th at Koppenbergcross and 10th at the Euros) and Rémi Lelandais (12th at Koppenbergcross and 19th at the Euros).
Rafionain-Glas08-11-2026 - There really was nothing in it. Schreiber was so much faster, and Brand was fighting to stay in the wheel in the sprint. Schreiber did move a bit, but to say she closed the door doesn't make sense because Brand couldn't enter it anyway, abd she wasn't impeded.Rafionain-Glas08-11-2026
- 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
- Thibau Nys does exactly what Iserbyt is calling forRafionain-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
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