"The collective mastery between him, Isaac Del Toro, and the whole team" - Gianetti heaps praise on Tadej Pogacar and UAE squad after Tour de France victory
CyclingTuesday, 28 July 2026 at 18:30
UAE Team Emirates - XRG CEO Mauro Gianetti took in the emotions in Paris on Sunday after his team sealed a Tour de France yellow jersey, white jersey and two riders on the final podium.
A dominant Tour de France saw the team take six stage wins - five for Tadej Pogacar and one for Isaac del Toro. Battling illness and injuries in week two and three, the Emirati squad fought with their backs against the wall to secure a fifth Pogacar La Grand Boucle triumph.
With Pogacar's grip on yellow sealed on stage 6 thanks to a flying Col du Tourmalet effort from the Slovenian, the team managed to keep Isaac del Toro in the white jersey for best young rider and third place as the dust settled in the French capital.
"It was a special Tour thanks to the great maturity shown this year by Tadej Pogacar, but also the collective mastery between him, Isaac Del Toro, and the whole team," Gianetti told Cyclism'Actu.
Noting a day when Adam Yates and Tim Merlier banded together in the face of an illness, the two riders fought to make the time-cut on what would have been on paper a simple day if well. Gianetti underlined that cycling is very much a team sport, despite having individual winners.
Tadej Pogacar and UAE Team EMirates - XRG at the 2026 Tour de France
Gianetti praises Wellens and Yates performance
"For example, the day Tim Wellens stopped to wait for Adam Yates was something very touching for me. Seeing all the guys in the morning on the bus, motivating each other, focusing, wanting and enjoying the suffering together.
"You know, cycling is an extraordinary sport because only one rider wins, but there's a whole team working towards that victory."
The Swiss UAE chief claimed Pogacar carries the dreams of their 150 staff and riders, and seeing their success and commoraderie is what gives him the most joy.
"Each of the 150 team members, from staff to riders, has their own dreams, and ultimately, they all place their dreams in Tadej's hands.
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Tadej Pogacar praise
"Cycling is an example for everyone, for other sports and for society: we all work together toward a goal, and if we can't achieve it personally, we do it for someone else. What I see every morning in the team truly fills me with pride."
Pogacar's maiden Tour win in 2020 remains his favourite memory, but Gianetti says the 2026 edition will live long in his memory.
He added: "For me, the first one remains the most beautiful because it arrived in such a spectacular way. But it's true that this year, beyond the result and the stage wins, the image of friendship, the support between our riders and the desire to work together convey a message that goes far beyond stage successes."
Gavin QuinnCycling Journalist
Gavin Quinn is a cycling journalist and ultra-distance cyclist with a BA in Journalism from Dublin City University. Formerly the Press & Communications Officer for Cycling Ireland, Gavin has worked inside the national team at the World Championships and has reported for the Irish Mirror, Mirror UK, and The42.
His expertise is backed by elite-level access, having interviewed stars like Sam Bennett and Ben Healy, as well as immense personal endurance. In 2025, he completed a 12,000km solo cycle from Ireland to Vietnam, following a 4,600km tour across Europe. From the cobbles of Paris-Roubaix to the gradients of the Tourmalet, Gavin’s writing focuses on the "romance and brutality" of the sport. Having visited 50+ countries, he brings a global, cultural perspective to his coverage of the pro peloton for CyclingUpToDate.
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- Nonsense. Tadej had bad days in both of his TDF losses, and with Jonas at his peak and Wout at his, it was game over. Take away any of TJV's other domestiques and the result is exactly the same.MidnightRider28-07-2026
- I've told that before: salary cap is not sustainable. If you try to somehow impose it by controlling contracts, the companies behind teams would simply make a workaround by eg establishing some company under the cyclist's name to found him or just send the money to his family. That is 100% impossible in XXI capitalists world, unless you'd try to make North Korea.BenAflec28-07-2026
- Salary cap would have no impact. I suppose one good helper is nice in case of emergency, but outside of that Tadej needs very little. He won his first TDF by (mostly) sitting on TJV. Since then his team has gotten better, but it's irrelevant on the monster solos that provide most of his time gaps. I mean, with or without Yates he was going to set Alpe d'Huez on fire, right? And heck, Tadej did more to support Del Toro than Del Toro did for Tadej. Take away both those guys and what would be different about this TDF? Not much.MidnightRider28-07-2026
- This has nothing to do with tactics, domestiques, course design, or anything else other than pure power. Mike Tyson famously said "everyone has a plan until they get hit in the mouth." Wout and MVDP can manage Tadej on the flats, (barely) but on pretty much every other terrain, Tadej can deal knockout blows all by himself. As long as he is on this level there is no rule change or strategy that will change outcomes. Either someone rises to his level or he will just keep winning.MidnightRider28-07-2026
- Evenepoel = Winner. So much trash talk saying he wasn't even a contender. Hopefully this performance silences that nonsense once and for all. Once Vingo was out he was clearly the best of the rest by a solid margin.mobk28-07-2026
- Yeah benefiting from someone else racing isn't a "gift". It's literally the sport of cycling and the physics of aerodynamics. Sure a two man break with Pog and MvdP had a much better chance than MvdP alone. That doesn't mean Pogi didn't want the win before he was totally cooked. No gift here.mobk28-07-2026
- Are you serious?MajorPayne28-07-2026
- We all knew the story of one guy who cheated death to triumph over an EPO-fueled peloton while riding clean was a big lie. Thank goodness the first guy who cheated death to triumph over an EPO-fueled peloton while riding clean is here to remind us.
MarkFour28-07-2026 - We will have to aggree to disagree on that topic then it seems. Have great day.Cyclingsbestfan28-07-2026
- i would argue that if you know you can’t even make it to the line then you’re in no position to give any GIFT.OCexile28-07-2026
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