"Tadej watched the Giro and saw how good Jonas was": UAE not hiding from Vingegaard's dominance as Tour de France showdown approaches

UAE Team Emirates - XRG manager Mauro Gianetti has confirmed that Tadej Pogacar and the team's coaching staff closely monitored Jonas Vingegaard's victorious Giro d'Italia campaign. While Vingegaard was competing in Italy, Pogacar completed a three-week altitude training camp in Spain. The Slovenian rider will next compete at the five-day Tour de Suisse from June 17 to 21 before facing Vingegaard at the Tour de France, which begins with a team time trial in Barcelona on Saturday, July 4.

Gianetti explained that while the team remains focused on their own preparation for the Tour de France, they paid close attention to the level Vingegaard displayed throughout the three weeks of the Giro.

"Tadej watched the Giro and saw how good Jonas was," Gianetti told Cyclingnews. "We've kept an eye on him for sure but we're more focused on what we're doing. Tadej has been working hard and is focused on his training for the Tour. We know that we have to be ready for the Tour and ready to race hard. Then the road will decide."

Gianetti also spoke sportingly about the Danish rider as he has become eighth man in hisroty to complete the Grand Tour trilogy. "Jonas has always been a great rider. We know how good he is and he's confirmed it by winning the Giro. It's a great moment in his career and he did the right thing by riding the Giro and he deserved to win it," Gianetti said.

UAE Team Emirates was unable to mount a serious challenge against Vingegaard in the general classification due to a succession of injuries and illnesses. GC leader João Almeida withdrew a week before the start after contracting a virus, and while he is expected to return to racing at the Tour Auvergne-Rhône Alpes, his readiness for the upcoming Tour de France squad is still being evaluated.

"We were very unlucky for the Giro. We lost our designated leader João Almeida even before the start of the Giro. He wanted to target the Giro."

The team's overall hopes were further damaged on stage 2, when both Adam Yates and Jay Vine crashed out of the race. "Then we also lost Adam Yates in the stage 2 crash when he was in great form. Jay Vine was also going well and crashed out, too. If those three riders had raced for the Giro GC, we would have made it a very different race. But that's cycling and that's the Giro."

Following the loss of their primary GC contenders, the squad shifted its focus toward daily stage opportunities. Jhonatan Narváez led this revised strategy, securing three stage wins in Cosenza, Fermo, and Chiavari. Narváez was also competing for the points jersey until an accident following the finish of stage 18, where he collided with a team bus, resulted in a head injury that forced his withdrawal the next day. The team also celebrated a stage victory from Igor Arrieta.

"After losing three leaders, we had to reinvent our Giro. The riders took on every stage as an opportunity to win and they did," Gianetti said. "Jhonatan won three stages with some aggressive racing and Igor Arrieta also took a great stage win. We're happy about how we fought back as a team after losing our leaders."