"We’re ready to give everything" - Pogacar headlines UAE's final Tour de France lineup

The Tour de France peloton will already be racing through the streets of Barcelona this week. UAE Team Emirates - XRG have been the first team to confirm their lineup this Monday morning, confirming the presence of the defending champion Tadej Pogacar and the seven riders that will be backing him up in that goal.

“The Tour de France is always the biggest challenge of the season and also the race that motivates us the most. Every year, you arrive at the start knowing that anything can happen over three weeks, and that’s what makes it so special," Pogacar said in a press release.

After a spring in which he won Strade Bianche, Milano-Sanremo, Tour of Flanders, Liège-Bastogne-Liège and the Tour de Romandie; the World Champion put his focus on training in the mountains and losing some weight. He arrived at the Tour de Suisse with form that made him untouchable, winning three out of the five stages.

Pogacar is, despite a setback in the injuries of his fiancée Urska Zigart, ready for the Tour, where he will be fighting for a fifth title which would place him as a record holder together with several others of history's best. “We’ve prepared really well as a team, everyone has worked incredibly hard, and now we’re excited to finally get started in Barcelona".

He will be backed up by Isaac del Toro, himself the winner of the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes and a podium contender at his debut Grand Boucle. Adam Yates, Brandon McNulty and Felix Grosschartner will be his main support crew in the mountains.

On the contrary, Tim Wellens, Florian Vermeersch and Nils Politt - three of the best classics riders in the world - will be putting in the work on the flat and hillier days. All are riders with experience supporting the Slovenian at the highest level.

“I feel good, I’m looking forward to racing, and I know I’ll have a fantastic group of teammates and staff around me. We have a lot of confidence in each other and have built up a lot of experience together over the years," Pogacar continued. The Emirati team will be the main favourites, but face competition in the likes of Jonas Vingegaard's Visma, Remco Evenepoel's Red Bull - BORA and Paul Seixas' Decathlon.

“There will be strong rivals, difficult stages and many other unpredictable moments, but we’re ready to give everything. It’s a privilege to wear these colours at the Tour de France, and we’ll do our best to make ourselves, the team and the fans proud.”