With the 2025 season over, preparations for 2026 are already underway. The cycling market continues to make major moves for the future. At UAE Team Emirates - XRG, in addition to focusing on the present, they are always thinking about the long term. For this reason, the Emirati team has announced the 5 riders that will join its U23 squad (UAE Gen Z).
UAE Team Emirates Gen Z will consist of 13 riders who will be trained over the next year as possible future stars of the "first team". The name of one of the newcomers will sound more familiar than others. And for a reason. The 18-year-old Spanish cyclist Jaime Torres is a younger brother of none other than UAE's big climbing prospect Pablo Torres who has already made the step up to WorldTour before this season.
Along with Jaime Torres, UAE's other four Gen Z signings are Heimo Fugger (Austria), Daan Dijkman (Netherlands), Matteo Vanden Wijngaert (Belgium) and Moritz Mauss (Germany). All five new faces will come straight from the junior category.
Dijkman and Mauss in particular have proven to be two of the best riders in the 2007 class with Mauss 9th at the World Championships in Rwanda while Dijkman was one step better and arrived 8th on the challenging course. Dijkman performed even better on the mountainous course of European Championships where he sprinted to a 5th place in a small group.
The 8 riders who continue with UAE Team Emirates - XRG in its development team for another year are: Mohammad Almutaiwei, Abdulla Jasim Al-Ali, Ugo Fabries, Marcos Freire, Luca Giaimi, Mateo Ramirez, Enea Sambinello and Davide Stella.
Pablo Torres could soon share team with brother Jaime Torres in UAE
The projection of Jaime Torres
The younger brother of Pablo Torres signs for UAE Team Emirates Gen Z after a very exciting junior stage in the Sanse team. Between 2024 and 2025, Jaime Torres achieved some outstanding results, which caught the attention of Matxín's team, such as the following:
- 5th in the Spanish Junior Time Trial Championship 2025
- 1st in the Trofeo Fiestas del Ausente 2025
- 1st in Beasaingo Proba 2024
- 3rd in Urkiola Igoera 2025
- 4th in the overall classification of the Vuelta Ciclista a Sevilla 2025
- 6th in the overall classification of the Vuelta Ciclista Gran Canaria Júnior 2025
Obviously, the youngest of the Torres brothers is still very young. But in the UAE, talent is growing by leaps and bounds. You only have to look at how quickly the great talents such as Isaac del Toro and Juan Ayuso, among others, have established themselves in the last few years. Moreover, with Ayuso out of the team, Matxín will surely want to look for his successor in one of the Spaniards. Why not Jaime Torres?
Ondrej ZhasilCycling Journalist
Ondřej Zhasil is a cycling journalist at CyclingUpToDate and has been part of the team since 2023. He is based in Ostrava, the third-largest city in the Czech Republic, and covers professional cycling across the main UCI competitions, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España. A key focus of his work is startlist analysis and pre-race coverage, where he examines team selections, rider line-ups, and tactical scenarios ahead of major events.
Alongside WorldTour coverage, Ondřej has developed specific expertise in junior cycling and in racing across East Asia, including competitions in China and Japan. He also maintains a broad working knowledge of other disciplines and levels, including cyclocross, while continuing to expand his understanding of mountain bike racing.
Ondřej holds a bachelor’s degree in Mathematics and Physics, which supports his analytical, data-driven approach to performance and race analysis. In his reporting, he regularly uses ProCyclingStats for results, statistics, and historical context. He places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles promptly when new, verified information becomes available.
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- many people advise him to grow slowly and rather do giro and/or vuelta instead of tdf. but i can totally understand that he is not satisfied with taking over once pogi declines, but instead beat him in his prime. so if he goes for tdf again, i‘m all for it. let‘s hope that pogi recovers soon!Ketterechts07-11-2026
- So gracious to offer something no-one would be prepared to pay for. The Giro is not the Tour and doesn’t command the same interest or attract the same “elite” (those willing to pay to be a part of something they consider has ego boosting potential). Roadside viewing will always largely remain free for everyone outside circuits. Introduction of a symbolic entrance to mountain climbs is worthy of exploration. Asking 1-2€ isn’t going to repulse real fans (most will spend 50-100€ on their outing that day all things included) but will prevent a portion of the total knobhead thrillseekers who will join in any large gathering as long as it’s free, just because they’re attracted to crowds, without which it it difficult for them to work up their anti-social behaviour.Jumpyjohn07-11-2026
- How is radio going to help when someone went over a cliff or bridge or off the roadside into a forest unnoticed and is laying there unconscious?Jumpyjohn07-11-2026
- Yep, next we’ll be accusing F1 drivers of avoiding Le Mans.Jumpyjohn07-11-2026
- But on what is that opinion based? Are you holding him to a different standard than others? Are you saying he should do learn to like something he doesn’t Are you saying he hasn’t achieved enough Are you saying he pretends to be better than his results? It’s actually a really strange opinion to oust if you consider it objectively or rationally. Try applying it to others or yourself by asking if not EVERYONE should then be doing more? Nobody in athletics or swimming gets criticism for not expanding their repertoire when a rival or someone else does. In fact, most who move to another event get accused of running from their rival. Opinions are boring, the reasons behind them are what count.Jumpyjohn07-11-2026
- for a medical chief to throw things like is just bad. There are already radios which were banned for spectacle. allow radios. Gps trackers are not a complete solutionabstractengineer07-11-2026
- Yeah man...PogiSloFans07-11-2026
- any rider less than 25 whether they are really ready for the position of leadership of GT is probably not the case. I think Pogi himself suffered when he was defeated by Jonas in the TDF twice. But that would be the team's job to ensure support so that they can bounce back. It requires a team and time to get back up and win after getting knocked down.abstractengineer07-11-2026
- I'm very glad he got the big late Quickstep Vuelta win and I hope he has a few left for Euskaltel-Euskadi.flyer07-11-2026
- My memories of Ivan Basso aren't good but I liked his sister Elisa ok.flyer07-11-2026
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