“The start of a beautiful summer” - Isaac del Toro returns alongside Joao Almeida as UAE ramp up Tour de France preparations at Tour Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes

UAE Team Emirates - XRG will begin the final phase of their Tour de France build-up with Isaac del Toro back in action and Joao Almeida alongside him at the Tour Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes.

The race, formerly known as the Criterium du Dauphine, starts on Sunday, 7 June and gives UAE another chance to test their climbing depth before July. Tadej Pogacar delivered the team’s first overall victory at the race last season, taking three stage wins on the way, but this year’s squad points towards a broader UAE strategy as the Tour approaches.

Del Toro is the headline name. The Mexican has not raced since crashing out of Itzulia Basque Country in April, having started 2026 with overall victories at the UAE Tour and Tirreno-Adriatico.

His return in France now gives UAE another chance to sharpen one of their most important climbing weapons before the summer’s biggest objective.

Del Toro’s season had gathered serious momentum before his Basque Country exit. He won the UAE Tour in February after a decisive performance on Jebel Hafeet, then followed it with another general classification victory at Tirreno-Adriatico. A podium finish at Strade Bianche added further weight to a spring that had already pushed him deeper into the Tour de France conversation around UAE’s supporting cast.

Now he returns in a race that should quickly reveal where his form sits after almost two months away from competition. “I’m excited for the Tour Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes. It’s my first time at the race and I hope it will be the start of a beautiful summer of racing in France for me. Training has been going well, and things are going in the right direction,” Del Toro said ahead of the race to UAE.

“The level of racing will be high, no doubt, as a lot of the peloton are preparing for the Tour, but I think we are ready. It’s been a while now since my last race and I’m excited to pin a race number on again.”

UAE are not placing the week entirely on Del Toro’s shoulders. Almeida is also set for his first appearance at the race, giving the team a proven Grand Tour podium finisher for an eight-day test packed with climbing.

That pairing gives UAE two serious general classification options, while Pavel Sivakov and Pablo Torres add more mountain depth. Benoit Cosnefroy brings a different threat after a strong May, in which he won the Grand Prix du Morbihan, the Tour de Hongrie and the Boucles de la Mayenne, where he claimed his first overall victory in two years.

UAE’s seven-rider squad combines GC options, climbing support and punchy stage-winning potential, with Almeida, Del Toro, Cosnefroy, Ivo Oliveira, Sivakov, Torres and Kevin Vermaerke all named for the eight-day race. Fabrizio Guidi, Tomas Gil and Marco Marzano will direct the team.

For UAE, the value of this week is not only in the result. It is a chance to put several key climbing pieces into race conditions at the same time, with Del Toro returning from his lay-off, Almeida building towards the summer, and Cosnefroy carrying recent winning form into a tougher WorldTour environment.

The team time trial also gives UAE a direct rehearsal for a format that will matter at the Tour de France, but the bigger picture is the strength of the unit around their July ambitions. UAE have won 36 races already this season and arrive as defending champions of this event, yet this squad has a different feel to last year’s Pogacar-led victory.

This time, the focus is on depth. Del Toro needs rhythm, Almeida gives the team proven stage-race security, Cosnefroy offers a punchy option, and Sivakov, Torres, Oliveira and Vermaerke round out a squad built to race aggressively across the week.

Pogacar’s 2025 triumph gave UAE their first overall victory at the old Dauphine. Twelve months later, the race has a new name and UAE arrive with a different kind of statement, built around the riders who could help shape their Tour de France summer.