UAE Team Emirates (UCI team code: UAD) is an Emirati road bicycle racing team. The team competes at UCI WorldTeam level and has done so since the UCI World Tour was formed as the top category of road cycling in 2005.
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| UCI code | UAD | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Registered | Italy (1999–2016) UAE (2017–present) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Founded | 1999 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Discipline(s) | Road | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Status | UCI WorldTeam | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bicycles | Colnago | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Components | Shimano, Enve | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Website | Team home page | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Key personnel | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| General manager | Mauro Gianetti | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Team manager(s) | Matxin Fernandez | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Team name history | |||||||||||||||||||||||
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History
The team was established in 2017 as UAE Abu Dhabi before being renamed UAE Team Emirates in 2018. It is sponsored by the UAE government and the team has achieved notable success in various prestigious races, including stage wins and overall victories in Grand Tours (the Tour de France, Giro d’Italia, and Vuelta a España) and one-day races.The team was temporarily suspended from the ProTour in 2010, missing one ProTour event.[1]
Transition from an Italian-based team
Chinese involvement
In August 2016 the team (then called Lampre-Merida) confirmed that its WorldTeam licence was being transferred from CGS Cycling to Chinese company TJ Sport Consultation, with the team becoming the first Chinese WorldTour team from 2017. Former Saunier Duval–Prodir team manager Mauro Gianetti was announced as the co-ordinator for the project.[2]
In an interview with La Gazzetta dello Sport the following month, Saronni confirmed that he and CGS Cycling would continue to manage the team on TJ Sport's behalf, and that the team's bicycles would be supplied by Colnago. He indicated that the project was being co-ordinated by the Chinese government via TJ Sport with involvement from a number of Chinese companies including Alibaba, and that its aim was to develop Chinese cycling and riders.[3]
When the UCI awarded 17 WorldTour licences to teams in November, it announced that TJ Sport's application was "under review" by its Licensing Commission.[4] According to Saronni, the reason for the delay was that the head of the TJ Sport project, Li Zhiqiang, had fallen seriously ill, which prevented funding for the project from being confirmed.
Emirati rescue
As a result, the team looked elsewhere for sponsorship, securing funding from the United Arab Emirates and changing its name to UAE Abu Dhabi. The UCI confirmed the team's WorldTour licence on 20 December.[5] In February 2017, the team announced that airline Emirates had signed on with the team as a naming-rights sponsor. The team was subsequently known as UAE Team Emirates.[6]
In June 2017, two days before the 2017 Tour de France the team announced it would also be sponsored by the First Abu Dhabi Bank, an amalgamation of the First Gulf Bank and the National Bank of Abu Dhabi, with their logo being added to the chest and side of the team's jersey.[7]
Team roster
- As of 25 January 2024.[8]
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Major wins
National, continental, and world champions
- 1999
Belgian Road Race, Ludo Dierckxsens- 2000
South African Time Trial, Robbie Hunter
Latvian Time Trial, Raivis Belohvoščiks- 2001
- Latvian Time Trial, Raivis Belohvoščiks
- 2002
- Latvian Time Trial, Raivis Belohvoščiks
- Latvian Road Race, Raivis Belohvoščiks
- 2005
Austrian Road Race, Gerrit Glomser- 2006
Italian Time Trial, Marzio Bruseghin- 2007
Slovenian Road Race, Tadej Valjavec- 2008
World Road Race, Alessandro Ballan- 2011
- Slovenian Road Race, Grega Bole
Ukrainian Road Race, Oleksandr Kvachuk- Ukrainian Time Trial, Oleksandr Kvachuk
- Italian Time Trial, Adriano Malori
- 2014
Portuguese Time Trial, Nelson Oliveira- Portuguese Road Race, Nelson Oliveira
- 2015
- Portuguese Time Trial, Nelson Oliveira
Ethiopian Road Race, Tsgabu Grmay- Ethiopian Time Trial, Tsgabu Grmay
- Portuguese Road Race, Rui Costa
- Slovenian Road Race, Luka Pibernik
Taiwanese Road Race, Feng Chun-kai- Taiwanese Time Trial, Feng Chun-kai
- 2017
UAE Time Trial, Yousif Mirza- UAE Road Race, Yousif Mirza
- Slovenian Time Trial, Jan Polanc
European Track (Individual pursuit), Filippo Ganna- 2018
- World Track (Individual pursuit), Filippo Ganna
- UAE Time Trial, Yousif Mirza
- UAE Road Race, Yousif Mirza
Norwegian Road Race, Vegard Stake Laengen- 2019
- UAE Time Trial, Yousif Mirza
- UAE Road Race, Yousif Mirza
- Slovenian Time Trial, Tadej Pogačar
- 2020
- Slovenian Time Trial, Tadej Pogačar
- Portuguese Time Trial, Ivo Oliveira
- Portuguese Road Race, Rui Costa
- Norwegian Road Race, Sven Erik Bystrøm
- European Track (Individual pursuit), Ivo Oliveira
- 2021
African Time Trial, Ryan Gibbons- UAE Road Race, Yousif Mirza
- UAE Time Trial, Yousif Mirza
- African Road Race, Ryan Gibbons
- South Africa Time Trial, Ryan Gibbons
- 2022
- UAE Road Race, Yousif Mirza
- UAE Time Trial, Yousif Mirza
Swiss Time Trial, Joel Suter- Portuguese Road Race, João Almeida
- 2023
Australian Time Trial, Jay Vine- Slovenian Time Trial, Tadej Pogačar
- Slovenian Road Race, Tadej Pogačar
American Time Trial, Brandon McNulty- Portuguese Time Trial, João Almeida
- Swiss Road Race, Marc Hirschi
- 2024
- World Road Race Championships, Tadej Pogačar
- American Time Trial, Brandon McNulty
- Austrian Time Trial, Felix Großschartner
- Belgian Time Trial, Tim Wellens
German Time Trial, Nils Politt- Portuguese Time Trial, António Morgado
- Slovenian Road Race, Domen Novak
References
External links
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