UAE-Team Emirates thread

[Peyroteo94]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1914591822518604039

View: https://x.com/RenaudB31/status/1914591822518604039?t=oaU9C_ZsXaH19QcBVb7Phg&s=19


Ayuso improving his aim.

His new skill to win the Giro. Hit Roglic with a snow ball and cause him a concussion.

 

[Rou]

The question is will they send Ayuso to the Vuelta this year with a high chance that Pog won't go.

 

[hayneplane]

His new skill to win the Giro. Hit Roglic with a snow ball and cause him a concussion.

A cycling/Mario Kart mashup

 

[Brullnux]

The Abruzzo startlist looked like the TDF compared to Asturias.
UAE can win all the stages and the GC.

I don't understand what the UAE is doing in a race between Spanish and Portuguese Pro Conti teams

Startlist for Vuelta Asturias 2025

Competing teams and riders for Vuelta Asturias 2025. Top competitors are Marc Soler, António Morgado and Alessandro Covi.

www.procyclingstats.com

Points/win farming, as normal

 

[Cycling111]

Visma canceled its participation in Slovenia at the last moment.

UAE lost the Giro, but won again in a smaller race, relying on their numerical superiority (they had two riders in the group), as in the Abruzzo stages.
In Finestre they didn´t use any rider to have a superior situation.

They should ride better in GT and classic. Those are races where no one wins except Pogacar.
Visma doesn't win or doesn't even participate in these minor races, but they've won GT races with four riders.

Visma isn't bringing anyone important to TDS, while the UAE is bringing Almeida and Vine.
But Visma has won the Giro.
Except for Pogacar, UAE is becoming "Hirschi". They're inflating numbers like Astana, butAstana needed points.

This is the biggest difference between them and Visma.

In less than a week we have seen the summary of what they are. Losing a Giro due to incapacity, not getting anyone into the break, McNulty celebrating for a top9 , but being far superior in Slovenia.


Edit: They relegated the victory in Slovenia. But you get the point.
But my reflection was on these UAE efforts to reach 100 victories, even if 50 are in minor races. Visma has far the Giro, even though UAE has been making the best possible signings for years. Or Kuss getting a GT before Almeida and Ayuso is a real blow for UAE.

 

[Red Rick]

To me it just looks like a number of riders have contracts stipulating they get x leadership in y GT etc. Ayuso not racing the Vuelta doesn't need to be about Pogacar. He didn't go to the Vuelta despite wanting to and despite Pogacar not going either.

 

[noob]

The race politics of UAE is completely not about tactics; stack wealth and boast about it without any sense of propriety or taste.

Spoiler

(They buy up ever young talent on the market and it's so baffling at this point that I'm starting to wonder if Matxin will turn out to be a really really bad guy. I'm not talking about clinical stuff but far worse things.)

Ayuso won't ride the vuelta because he got the giro.
The reason he got the giro was because he didn't ride as well for Pog last tdf as Almeida did. So Almeida is back to Tdf as a domestique again. And hence is paid back by the vuelta which he might do as a leader or possibly again end up being a domestique for Pog.
(I would've said this before listening to Broe say it)
And hence there's no place for Ayuso in the vuelta.

UAE is a tactical disaster that preys on young talented people. It's utterly cynical. If I got my choice everyone would leave this god forsaken "team".

 

[Cycling111]

Every team wants to sign the best talent.It doesn't make sense to say someone is bad for that.
Were Visma evils for wanting to occupy the entire podium at the Vuelta 2023?

Visma has signed Brenan when Kooij is considering leaving because he doesn't have space on a Tour.

Pablo Torres signed last year, Morgado and Christen two years ago.
Christen has just renewed her contract this yea
They signed contracts recently, which means they want to stay.

For now, it seems only Ayuso wants to leave. Generalizing based on one.

Let's not be cynical either. Visma doesn't win simply because of tactics. Simon smashed Finestre's record. They've won nine GTs in recent years because they've been strong team and riders.
They won by signing very strong riders. The Giro winner is Simon Yates, who was the leader of a team (Jayco).
But when Visma wins they're wonderful, UAE villains.
No, that's not what my message was about. That conclusion strikes me as cynical when another team is dominating the GTs. If it weren't for a talent like Pogacar, Visma would be winning 12 GTs.
But we've decided to proclaim UAE the villains, when all the teams are chasing GT wins or classics. Ineos, Bora, EF... wants to win GT, not the Tour of Slovenia or Abruzzo. And the team that has tyrannized GT in recent year isn´t UAE.

The most ironic thing is that Pogacar arrived at UAE when they were a mediocre team. Visma's current leader emerged to replace Roglic, who was the best in the world until Pogacar appeared.
But the UAE are the tyrants who sign talent to win.

 

[Moose McKnuckles]

My team: good guys
Rival team: villains

 

[Cycling111]

My team: good guys
Rival team: villains

Let's not forget that @noob said that Almeida should sign for Visma

@noob You can't say this after hoping Almeida signs for Visma.
You should be hoping Visma is the last team he signs for. He should sign for a team that isn't dominant and lacks of leader.


This is very contradictory.

 

[Links2003]

The race politics of UAE is completely not about tactics; stack wealth and boast about it without any sense of propriety or taste.
[...]
Ayuso won't ride the vuelta because he got the giro.
The reason he got the giro was because he didn't ride as well for Pog last tdf as Almeida did. So Almeida is back to Tdf as a domestique again. And hence is paid back by the vuelta which he might do as a leader or possibly again end up being a domestique for Pog.
(I would've said this before listening to Broe say it)
And hence there's no place for Ayuso in the vuelta.

UAE is a tactical disaster that preys on young talented people. It's utterly cynical. If I got my choice everyone would leave this god forsaken "team".

As a young rider, I would also think twice about going to UAE and signing a long contract straight away.
You can certainly earn good money there. And UAE shows that almost all riders have the chance to be successful at least in small races. Few teams offer that.

On the other hand, there are so many good riders that you have to think carefully about whether you want to take the risk of having a few high-flyers in front of you for longer, which is why you don't get a chance in some races.

But every rider has a free choice. If UAE wants a rider, there are certainly many other teams that would be interested. So you can't blame UAE for that.

 

[Pozzovivo]

Stake Laengen extends his contract by one year until 2026 (oral agreement reached but not signed yet).

 

[noob]

Let's not forget that @noob said that Almeida should sign for Visma

@noob You can't say this after hoping Almeida signs for Visma.
You should be hoping Visma is the last team he signs for. He should sign for a team that isn't dominant and lacks of leader.


This is very contradictory.

I was writing a stream of consciousness post that suggested he'd have a bigger chance of doing a GT on his own in Visma than in UAE. I was also shocked about that realisition as it was completely absurd. But as I had that thought I simply analyzed if he would get more of his goals met there or in UAE.

That is - believe it or not - the same thing as suggesting he should go to Visma.

Also: my disliking UAE has nothing to do with wich riders I like. I don't like United Arab Emirates vulgarity, and I am seriously disturbed by things Gianetti has done in the past and I am weirded out by Matxin.

There's a ton of reasons for me not to like UAE and none of it has to do with its riders!

 

[noob]

But every rider has a free choice. If UAE wants a rider, there are certainly many other teams that would be interested. So you can't blame UAE for that.

I can blame UAE. I can also blame Broe (and Benji) for constantly hyping up new young people as if it was the fresh thing to do! I can blame people for wanting the next big thing, hence disregard whoever they hyped up previously because he used to be new. Because those young people getting hyped up are not old enough to understand what it means.

It is very very worrying that elite athletes gets younger and younger. It will lead to a shitload of problems when they get older. Living in the spot light isn't a healthy life to live. Ayuso is 22 years old. He has lived his life scrutinized for years by the press. (And don't even get me started on how it is for Remco and Wout since they're Belgians).

 

[Cycling111]

If the UAE had done what EF did with De Bont, public opinion would be criminalizing them.

I criticize them for being useless , but they all make signings and want to win. UAE sign talents, EF signs rivals in a race The last thing is unethical, the other is the market. You may like it more or less, but it's what everyone is looking for, but not everyone has the money.

 

[Red Rick]

My team: good guys
Rival team: villains

Also known as the only possible defense for supporting UAE.

 

[theyoungest]

Every team wants to sign the best talent.It doesn't make sense to say someone is bad for that.
Were Visma evils for wanting to occupy the entire podium at the Vuelta 2023?

Visma has signed Brenan when Kooij is considering leaving because he doesn't have space on a Tour.

Pablo Torres signed last year, Morgado and Christen two years ago.
Christen has just renewed her contract this yea
They signed contracts recently, which means they want to stay.

For now, it seems only Ayuso wants to leave. Generalizing based on one.

Let's not be cynical either. Visma doesn't win simply because of tactics. Simon smashed Finestre's record. They've won nine GTs in recent years because they've been strong team and riders.
They won by signing very strong riders. The Giro winner is Simon Yates, who was the leader of a team (Jayco).
But when Visma wins they're wonderful, UAE villains.
No, that's not what my message was about. That conclusion strikes me as cynical when another team is dominating the GTs. If it weren't for a talent like Pogacar, Visma would be winning 12 GTs.
But we've decided to proclaim UAE the villains, when all the teams are chasing GT wins or classics. Ineos, Bora, EF... wants to win GT, not the Tour of Slovenia or Abruzzo. And the team that has tyrannized GT in recent year isn´t UAE.

The most ironic thing is that Pogacar arrived at UAE when they were a mediocre team. Visma's current leader emerged to replace Roglic, who was the best in the world until Pogacar appeared.
But the UAE are the tyrants who sign talent to win.

Simon Yates took a pay cut when signing for Visma. A lot of teams wanted Del Toro, but UAE were the only ones prepared or able to offer him half a million euros a year.

To be fair, two or three years ago I would have said the money is the only reason to sign for UAE, but it seems they've got their training and preparation in order and they're right up there with the best teams. Still of course tactically they're a shambles, so maybe that's a wash.

Btw, Visma didn't sign Brennan as a replacement for Kooij. He was already on their development team. And I doubt they're paying him half a million.

 

[Unchained]

I can blame UAE. I can also blame Broe (and Benji) for constantly hyping up new young people as if it was the fresh thing to do! I can blame people for wanting the next big thing, hence disregard whoever they hyped up previously because he used to be new. Because those young people getting hyped up are not old enough to understand what it means.

It is very very worrying that elite athletes gets younger and younger. It will lead to a shitload of problems when they get older. Living in the spot light isn't a healthy life to live. Ayuso is 22 years old. He has lived his life scrutinized for years by the press. (And don't even get me started on how it is for Remco and Wout since they're Belgians).

Finn Fisher - Black, Marc Hirschi are both quality riders that didn't fit into long term plans.
Soler is near aging out, of both the sport and UAE contract. Jan Christen, has not been promoted much by UAE, after early promise.
There are multiple riders showing form including Pavel Sivakov and Isaac Del Toro.
Many older pros have made comments about scientific processes, and data driven cycling preparation and racing being obvious recipe for burn out, boredom and shorter career in bike racing..
So old people want to say 50 is the new 40..or 40 is the new 30, implied that older people are coming off as younger.
But in bike racing might be dog years and 25 might be the new 35 in bike racing. Young riders being exposed to things that took years of experience traditionally.
There is some media pressure on bike racers but mostly it's if you want it.

 

[Links2003]

I can blame UAE. I can also blame Broe (and Benji) for constantly hyping up new young people as if it was the fresh thing to do! I can blame people for wanting the next big thing, hence disregard whoever they hyped up previously because he used to be new. Because those young people getting hyped up are not old enough to understand what it means.

It is very very worrying that elite athletes gets younger and younger. It will lead to a shitload of problems when they get older. Living in the spot light isn't a healthy life to live. Ayuso is 22 years old. He has lived his life scrutinized for years by the press. (And don't even get me started on how it is for Remco and Wout since they're Belgians).

I also see it critically because the athletes are getting younger and younger and are already in the limelight. But everything is becoming more professional. Accordingly, younger and younger people are already working professionally. Of course, that also has its disadvantages. Careers probably don't last as long as they used to. People are not only physically exhausted earlier, but also mentally.
But that's not just the case in sport, it's unfortunately the case everywhere now. Especially in sport.

Especially as there are no more races to train for. Everywhere it's all about full performance.

 

[hayneplane]

Finn Fisher - Black, Marc Hirschi are both quality riders that didn't fit into long term plans.
Soler is near aging out, of both the sport and UAE contract. Jan Christen, has not been promoted much by UAE, after early promise.
There are multiple riders showing form including Pavel Sivakov and Isaac Del Toro.
Many older pros have made comments about scientific processes, and data driven cycling preparation and racing being obvious recipe for burn out, boredom and shorter career in bike racing..
So old people want to say 50 is the new 40..or 40 is the new 30, implied that older people are coming off as younger.
But in bike racing might be dog years and 25 might be the new 35 in bike racing. Young riders being exposed to things that took years of experience traditionally.
There is some media pressure on bike racers but mostly it's if you want it.

Christen was looking really good until he had a bad crash this year and then came back to do an outstanding lead out on the Mur de Huy that put everyone except Pogacar on their limits already.

 

[noob]

I also see it critically because the athletes are getting younger and younger and are already in the limelight. But everything is becoming more professional. Accordingly, younger and younger people are already working professionally. Of course, that also has its disadvantages. Careers probably don't last as long as they used to. People are not only physically exhausted earlier, but also mentally.
But that's not just the case in sport, it's unfortunately the case everywhere now. Especially in sport.

Especially as there are no more races to train for. Everywhere it's all about full performance.

So true

 

[noob]

I have a question for people who was watching at the Lampre days; can you recommend some races to watch from that time? I don't doubt anything but I want to see with my own eyes. Maybe I'll get a good laugh out of it.