UAE Team Emirates renews for three years with Rui Oliveira: "I'm not going to make excuses. This year I want to do better, I don't want to live on 'ifs'"

Rui Oliveira has renewed his link with UAE-Team Emirates for another three years, as the young Portuguese told the sports newspaper "O Jogo".

The 27-year-old will thus complete a nine-year spell with the United Arab Emirates team and spoke about his sporting year, as well as his aspirations for the year ahead.

"I didn't achieve what I set out to do: win a race. I just didn't stand out," he says, talking about the Belgian Classics: "It wasn't those that I didn't win. I wanted to win a race. Any race. As cycling is, winning is good enough. I came close in Mallorca (8th), which was the first one I did, I was leading until the final 50 meters, but I was overtaken in the last corner," he recalls, "In Omloop (9th) I had to leave later and I could have made the top 5. It would have been fabulous." He then went on to talk about E3 and Roubaix: "At E3 I was 22nd, I missed the Paterberg and I could have been in the Top 10. At Paris - Roubaix (52nd) I took off in the last sector, and I'm just over a minute off the top 15. I'm not going to make excuses and this year I want to do better, I don't want to live on 'ifs'."

Looking at the peloton and his specialty, the sprints, Rui is realistic: "In pure sprints it's very difficult. I can do well in tight groups. But on a day with good positioning and more opportunities, it's possible."

In this year's Tour of Spain in Zaragoza, he handed victory to Juan Sebastian Molano on a plate and was recognized all over Europe. "People were surprised that he celebrated like that, but we had already tried him for several days. There hadn't been that launch to victory. Matxin told him to stay on my wheel and to get off it later. We took everyone by surprise. I'd never made such a perfect throw before. Being part of the main work gave it another flavour."

Looking ahead to 2024 is the next question "I'm happy with my progress, but I haven't reached my peak. I'm going to try to win a race and I have a lot of goals ahead of me: I'm going to the Tour of the Algarve, I'm going to do the Classics, like Roubaix and Flanders, the Giro d'Italia and then, I hope, the Olympic Games."

Asked about the Grand Tour he's yet to race, the Tour de France, Oliveira is peremptory: "I want to do one, yes. It's a dream for anyone. I've done the other Grand Tours and it's one of the few races I'm missing. In 2024 it's more difficult, because I have the Olympic Games, which is one of the things I have most in mind. Who knows, maybe in 2025 or 2026..."