"You win, you do everything" - UAE DS admits his team was "racing against everyone" at the end of the season in face of its enormous success

UAE Team Emirates have had one of the best seasons of any team in the cycling history, but the end of 2024 was somewhat bittersweet. The team may thank Tadej Pogacar for its success but at the same time, in some races it felt like they were up against the whole world. Such was the case at the Giro del Veneto and Veneto Classic at the last week of 2024 season.

"Every time before the start: you look at the starters, you analyze the favorites," sports director Fabio Baldato narrates the story of the races in Veneto to Bici.Pro. "That morning there were three or four who stood out, above all Kaden Groves and Corbin Strong. From there you begin to understand who could move in the race and who will wait. We were UAE Emirates, with over 80 victories under our belt and Hirschi in the race, who was among the favorites, even if rightly in decline after such an intense summer."

Early on in the race, it's become clear that it would left up to UAE to do all the work: "To make a long story short, we decided to keep an eye especially on Israel and Alpecin. A breakaway starts, but no one moves. So we start pulling. At a certain point I approach Israel's car and ask them to collaborate, but they reply: 'You win, you do everything'. What to do? If we let the breakaway go, it would get 15 minutes and the race would be lost."

The sports director from Veneto would've loved to play for victory in his home races, he notes: "Especially considering that it is a race that I care a lot about, as a good Venetian. So we control the situation, and in the end both Ulissi and Vine try to make the race tough. But the course was not selective enough: in the end a group of about thirty riders arrived. We, having spent more energy than the others, had to settle for a fifth place with Hirschi. Looking back, perhaps I would not start controlling the race. It is a situation that has happened to us several times at the end of the season, even when we did not have the number one favorite."

Baldato, however, doesn't hold grudge against the opposing teams. "I would do it too if I were on the other side. After a season like that, I understand the others. With the director of Israel we had a laugh at the end of the Giro del Veneto."