"You have to defend your territory a bit" - Adam Yates on the competitive nature of UAE's climber block and multiple leaders

Tadej Pogacar, João Almeida, Juan Ayuso, Jay Vine, Pavel Sivakov, Brandon McNulty, Marc Soler, Isaac del Toro, Pablo Torres... UAE Team Emirates - XRG is a team full of great climbers who work together throughout the year but also have their own ambitions of leadership. Adam Yates, another rider in the mix, shares the dynamics within the team leaders and how it motivates him to improve.

“When you see that everyone is working so hard, it does something to you. Everyone even goes to training to find their limits and really try to test them. Then you feel quite ‘silly’ if you don’t do that yourself. Look at the training camp in Benidorm, where we met in December. The riders really set a high standard there. When everyone pushes so hard, you start doing that yourself too," Yates shared with Wielerflits

Being the top team in the world, and having a broad calendar that provides opportunities for many definitely helps manage egos within the team. But Yates tells that he always has to show a high level, otherwise some of his teammates may take the leadership spots that he hopes for during the season. “In a team like UAE Emirates-XRG you always have to share a bit of leadership with others. But that is also a big part of the success. Everyone ‘pushes’ each other and wants to be or become the best. You have to defend your territory a bit. If you are not up to par yourself, there are immediately two or three riders who are ready to take your place".

Whilst he's assimilated the role of supporting figure for Tadej Pogacar over the past two years, he's simultaneously shown his best-ever level, and in a team that can win so much, he can only wonder if he can do it himself in the Grand Tours. Hence "I am going to the Giro d'Italia, that is a big goal for me personally". Although, he will have to share the leadership with Juan Ayuso, two riders who didn't seem to get on perfectly at the Tour de France last summer.

"After that I will go to the Tour de France again with Tadej in July to help him win again. It will take a long time before I have to be good, but from then on it will be one long peak period in the summer. That is why I am more relaxed at the moment." In Oman, Yates is having some modest competition and trying to revalidate his title, but it does seem like David Gaudu will be tough to beat. The summit finish to Green Mountain should decide the overall classification and take place this Wednesday.

At the Giro, he will also have the interesting detail of battling against his brother Simon. They will lead UAE and Visma respectively, before both take on supporting roles at the Tour. “He will be a big rival, yes. We know each other very well and I still talk to him every day. I don't know how things will be, but I can say that my goal is to win there. It is not easy, certainly not a 'walk in the park'. There will be many more rivals, and then I will have to live with the result.”

As for the World Champion Pogacar, who has during these past few days been in the spotlight due to a recon of the 2025 Paris-Roubaix route, the Briton confirms a good relationship: “We’ve actually had a good relationship from the start. In the first year that I joined the team, I didn’t ride with him that much. But that has changed drastically in the last two years," he explains. "We always do good races when we ride together. Of course, we don’t always win, but he does win a lot. That makes it very natural to work for him, when you win a lot and have such a leader.”

“Certainly. If you believe in your leader, you can fully support him, be focused and make sure he wins. It’s not easy. He always asks for more, to push longer and harder. Very tough, you know. But if he wins in the end, it’s all worth it.”