UAE Team Emirates XRG

UAE Team Emirates XRG () is an Emirati road bicycle racing team. The team competes at the UCI WorldTeam level and has done so since the UCI World Tour was formed as the top category of road cycling in 2005.

Since becoming UAE Team Emirates in 2018, the team has won the Tour de France four times and the Giro d'Italia once, with Slovenian rider Tadej Pogačar. Pogačar has also won the Monuments of Giro di Lombardia (5 times), Liège–Bastogne–Liège (4 times) and Tour of Flanders (3 times) for the team.

The "XRG" in the current team name indicates the addition of UAE energy sponsor XRG as co-title sponsor and the official energy partner in late 2024, for a 6-year partnership.^[1][2]

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.^[3]

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 team manager Mauro Gianetti was announced as the co-ordinator for the project.^[4]

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.^[5]

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.^[6] 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.^[7] 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.^[8]

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.^[9] Additionally, in December 2024, the Abu Dhabi-based energy company XRG, a subsidiary of ADNOC, was added as a team co-title sponsor and the official energy partner, for at least a six-year term, resulting in the latest team name change.^[1][10]

As of April 2026, the team's main sponsors included indoor cycling software MyWhoosh, bicycle manufacturer Colnago, Swiss luxury watchmaking brand Richard Mille, Emirati artificial intelligence company G42, First Abu Dhabi Bank, Italian clothing brand Pissei, International Holding Company, sovereign wealth fund Abu Dhabi Developmental Holding Company (ADQ), telecommunications company e&.^{[11][12][13][14][15]}

Kit and equipment

As of December 2024, Pissei produces UAE Team Emirates race clothing.^[16] For the 2026 WorldTour season, the team's bicycle framesets were Colnago-made, with Shimano groupsets, ENVE wheels, and components from Colnago, ENVE, Continental, Fizik, Elite, Wahoo, CarbonTi and Bikone.^[17][18]

Major wins

Since becoming UAE Team Emirates in 2018, the team has won the Tour de France four times and the Giro d'Italia once, with Slovenian rider Tadej Pogačar. Pogačar has also won the monuments of Giro di Lombardia (4 times), Liège–Bastogne–Liège (3 times) and Tour of Flanders (3 times) for the team.

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

2025

World Road Race Championships, Tadej Pogačar

European Road Race Championships, Tadej Pogačar

Austrian Time Trial, Felix Großschartner

Belgian Road Race, Tim Wellens

Ecuador Road Race, Jhonatan Narváez

Polish Road Race, Rafał Majka

Portuguese Road Race, Ivo Oliveira

Portuguese Time Trial, António Morgado

Mexican Time Trial, Isaac del Toro

Mexican Road Race, Isaac del Toro

References

1. ^ "XRG Named as Co-Title Partner and Official Energy Partner of UAE Team Emirates". XRG HQ. 17 December 2024. Retrieved 29 July 2025.
2. ^ "The joule in the crown". XRG HQ. 2024. Retrieved 29 July 2025.
3. ^ "Lampre granted temporary ProTour license - Cyclingnews.com". cyclingnews.com. Archived 1 April 2010 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 26 January 2010.
4. ^ "TJ Sport Consultation to take over Lampre-Merida's WorldTour licence". cyclingnews.com. 26 August 2016. Archived 2 September 2016 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 3 September 2016.
5. ^ Farrand, Stephen (3 September 2016). "Saronni reveals details of the new Chinese WorldTour team". cyclingnews.com. Archived 4 September 2016 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 3 September 2016.
6. ^ Farrand, Stephen (13 December 2016). "New sponsor set to save TJ Sport team after problems with Chinese backers". cyclingnews.com. Archived 28 December 2016 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 26 December 2016.
7. ^ "Saronni reveals how he secured UAE Abu Dhabi's WorldTour licence". cyclingnews.com. 26 December 2016. Archived 11 January 2019 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 26 December 2016.
8. ^ "Fly Emirates to sponsor UAE Abu Dhabi team". cyclingnews.com. Archived 22 February 2017 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 21 February 2017.
9. ^ "UAE Team Emirates brings on new sponsor ahead of Tour de France". cyclingnews.com. Archived 2 July 2017 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 29 June 2017.
10. ^ Ring, The Inner (2025-07-07). "The Inner Ring | Pro Team Sponsors Explained". Retrieved 2026-04-28.
11. ^ Lowe, Felix (2024-04-22). "Follow the money: What does Middle East investment mean for cycling?". Cyclist. Retrieved 2026-04-28.
12. ^ "UAE Team Emirates teams up with Richard Mille as their new Official Watch partner". UAE team Emirates. 2021-02-17. Retrieved 2026-04-28.
13. ^ "UAE Team Emirates". UAE team Emirates. Retrieved 2026-04-28.
14. ^ Knöfler, Lukas (2025-07-21). "Unpacking every sponsor behind the 2025 Tour and its teams". Domestique Cycling. Retrieved 2026-04-28.
15. ^ "Opinion: The Iran war might be bad news for Tadej Pogačar's team". Escape Collective. 2026-03-28. Retrieved 2026-04-28.
16. ^ Farrand, Stephen (2024-12-10). "UAE Team Emirates reveal new sponsor and 2025 colours but no new Colnago aero bike for Tadej Pogačar just yet". Cyclingnews. Retrieved 2026-04-28.
17. ^ "2026 Men’s WorldTour team bikes and equipment | Who’s riding what?". BikeRadar. 2026-01-08. Retrieved 2026-04-28.
18. ^ Strickson, Will (2026-01-22). "All the WorldTour team bikes, tech and kit 2026". Cyclist. Retrieved 2026-04-28.