UAE-Team Emirates thread

[Cycling111]

You're not comparing like with like: none of them are shown as recent additions to the startlist, and the selection is not marked as being confirmed.

It doesn't matter. PCS on Bjerg's profile memtions that he has a fractured hand. The two things are incompatible; if he has a fractured hand, he can't be in that race. Unless it's allowed for him to fake participation and he will abandon at kilometer 1, it would be an absurd rule.

Current injuries​

• Out with acromioclavicular luxation, fractured hand

Mikkel Bjerg

Mikkel Bjerg (born 1998-11-03 in Copenhagen ) is a professional road racing cyclist from Denmark, currently riding for UAE Team Emirates - XRG. His best results are winning a stage in Critérium du Dauphiné and 3 wins in World Championships MU - ITT.

www.procyclingstats.com

 

[RedheadDane]

PCS shows him as having been added to the CEGORR in the last couple of hours. Who to believe?

Laengen too...

It is an interesting case tho, as you need to start with 5 to race, but they have 3 injured riders. Maybe Bjerg is still there to sign in at the start so they can actually participate

Sacrificing the Scandis!

 

[Unchained]

Jay Vine also broken, needs surgery, UAE has to be asking what was the real cost of winning the Tour Down Under.. Yikes

 

[RedheadDane]

Jay Vine also broken, needs surgery, UAE has to be asking what was the real cost of winning the Tour Down Under.. Yikes

That's making it sound very dramatic...

 

[Cycling111]

How many victories do you think they'll achieve this year?

I've been looking at the calendars a bit, and I think fewer because they'll have fewer opportunities to win farm races.

Remco has already taken a win from them here. For now, Morgado is content with leading these races because he didn't show much more in important races last year either. He´ll surely win again in Figueira

In the Vuelta a Andalucía this year, they'll have Visma, although Kuss doesn't have good in GC except for the Vuelta, and Bora is going with Hindley, who also doesn't have good results, but they are already better rivals than last year in many races where they won against weak rivals or strong rivals like Pidcock, who was without a team in Andalucía.

Almeida, for example, chose his calendar very well last year to avoid major rivals. This year, he has Ayuso as a rival in Paris-Nice, who in those races is already better than last year's rivals or Catalunya against Vingegaard. In the Giro, he'll have Vingegaard. In that respect he is unlucky because Almeida could be a favorite for the Giro without him, whereas he doesn't have a GT and Kuss, Hindley or Hesjedal do, even though they are worse but took advantage of a year without a great dominant rider to win their GTs.

Almeida will win less this year due to his race schedule (perhaps he can make up for that deficit in the Vuelta).

In the Giro , I don't think Visma will be as lenient with breakaways as they were in the Vuelta, something UAE benefited from to win with climbers like Ayuso, who had to fight for the overall and not in breakaways against riders like Romo.

Del Toro will have a tough time in the UAE Tour if Vingegaard is in good form, and I don't think he should go to Italy this year to farm victories, although I fear they'll send him to pad his statistics. I think he'll have an easy time in Tirreno-Adriatico because, for now, there aren't any top-level riders there. It will be a victory like Ayuso's against Ganna.

By the way, in their obsession with farmer wins, they made the mistake of sending Yates and Narvaez to the TDU. Vine would have won against those opponents anyway, and Narvaez would have won easy Alula.
Yates is being sent to Oman. They'll likely continue winning those kinds of races with weak competition, but looking at some of the schedules, it seems they'll have a tougher time in some races than last year.

 

[James M]

Its quite easy. If you look at UAE’s roster, they have so many top‑tier riders no ones close 20-25 man deep. Naturally, its hard not to send some who isnt a favourite, that’s just the way it is.

As for the question: they will win significantly less imo. Expecting them to win as much as last year, when they dunked on the all‑time winning record, isnt sustainable at all imo. Also even if Ayuso is semi delulu hes also in general a good rider in comparison to majority of cyclist and net some wins apart from the biggest wins.

Lidl and RBH are stepping up which is the main reason imo, their rosters are becoming strong and keep in mind were simply talking rider for rider and roster depth..Visma is irrelevant in this discussion they’re not even top three. They have elite elite rider in Jonas, who will bring them major wins and Brennan is super talented and will win some sprints ofc, but thats not the same as roster‑wice rider for rider, they have 9-10 and mainly very good roulers, the quality falls of a cliff after their top 9-10 riders, theyre nowhere near the top three 20-25man deep now, in contradiction how it was a few years ago. They also struggle financially to even keep up with Lidl and RBH which is evident after Jumbo left.

 

[Salvarani]

Its quite easy. If you look at UAE’s roster, they have so many top‑tier riders no ones close 20-25 man deep. Naturally, its hard not to send some who isnt a favourite, that’s just the way it is.

As for the question: they will win significantly less imo. Expecting them to win as much as last year, when they dunked on the all‑time winning record, isnt sustainable at all imo. Also even if Ayuso is semi delulu hes also in general a good rider in comparison to majority of cyclist and net some wins apart from the biggest wins.

Lidl and RBH are stepping up which is the main reason imo, their rosters are becoming strong and keep in mind were simply talking rider for rider and roster depth..Visma is irrelevant in this discussion they’re not even top three. They have elite elite rider in Jonas, who will bring them major wins and Brennan is super talented and will win some sprints ofc, but thats not the same as roster‑wice rider for rider, they have 9-10 and mainly very good roulers, the quality falls of a cliff after their top 9-10 riders, theyre nowhere near the top three 20-25man deep now, in contradiction how it was a few years ago. They also struggle financially to even keep up with Lidl and RBH which is evident after Jumbo left.

Visma more reliant on Jonas winning, than UAE on Pog winning.

 

[Cycling111]

I wasn't expecting Christen to win today; he wasn't even the strongest on the climb, but I still think the same.

Obviously, it's an advantage that Christen has two teammates behind him while he attacks. That will always help them win many of those farm-level races. But I think Almeida will win less races because he'll have hardest rivals this year.

Althought they're doing Gran Camino this year, which they didn't do before, between that and the Vuelta a Asturias, they could get 10 wins against ProConti. They might win a lot, but I think they'll win fewer World Tour victories mainly because Almeida will win less races due to facing against Vingegaard in Catalunya and the Giro.

 

[Unchained]

I am wondering about the schedule for other teams, Remco already out racing hard in January, Pogacar and TDF supporting cast are starting months later. UAE suffered some broken bodies and TDU, Jan Christen looked excellent in his win(s) stage and GC at Alula, his legs were really good, crossed a big gap and then buried himself in ITT mode for last kilometers solo..

 

[Unchained]

I wasn't expecting Christen to win today; he wasn't even the strongest on the climb, but I still think the same.

Obviously, it's an advantage that Christen has two teammates behind him while he attacks. That will always help them win many of those farm-level races. But I think Almeida will win less races because he'll have hardest rivals this year.

Althought they're doing Gran Camino this year, which they didn't do before, between that and the Vuelta a Asturias, they could get 10 wins against ProConti. They might win a lot, but I think they'll win fewer World Tour victories mainly because Almeida will win less races due to facing against Vingegaard in Catalunya and the Giro.

Already got Vine, Morgado, Christen getting victories and it's January. Schedule for Del Toro completely in support of Pog's TDF, Almedia is said to be going good, have not seen any tweets about Yates.

 

[Salvarani]

Already got Vine, Morgado, Christen getting victories and it's January. Schedule for Del Toro completely in support of Pog's TDF, Almedia is said to be going good, have not seen any tweets about Yates.

Yates in Australia.

We will see how he goes in Oman. Probably suits him better, than TDU.

Otherwise, he is doing Giro and Tour. Objective is probably to be good for the team there.

 

[James M]

Visma more reliant on Jonas winning, then UAE on Pog winning.

True thats not even a question any person can look at Visma roster now its incredible lackluster in comparison to even Lidl and RBH and irrelevant in this topic now, forget UAE. Quite the opposite to how it was, Visma from 20-23 was insane roster wice most of their riders also in their prime, very very good and very deep, thats not hard to aknowledge is not the case now. Jumbo leaving was financially a hit to them and RBH and Lidl bolstering up immensely just natural cycle in cycling I guess.

To any emotional person thats not the same as Visma wont win big races cause Jonas is pure elite and Brennan hyper talented but this is about roster depth so relax.

 

[Cycling111]

I am wondering about the schedule for other teams, Remco already out racing hard in January, Pogacar and TDF supporting cast are starting months later. UAE suffered some broken bodies and TDU, Jan Christen looked excellent in his win(s) stage and GC at Alula, his legs were really good, crossed a big gap and then buried himself in ITT mode for last kilometers solo..

Today was one of the first .1 race where they were overtaken. There were two Red Bulls and two Movistar and Morgado was alone.
Last year, in all these Mallorca races, they were superior because they had Christen; Christen won one day and Morgado the next.
Pericas has performed well, but he's not at Christen's level.

Sivakov has been invisible; I suppose he'll be at a better level in Andalusia. Last year, Pidcock was stronger, but he was alone, and Van Gils was also very much alone. I think that last year, with a better team, Pidcock could have won. Van Gils exploded.

These teams don't prioritize these races either, or at least not until now. Visma, even with a larger roster in 2022, spent half the year in altitude training camp and has never sent strong teams to these races. They didn't even participate in races like Mallorca, and while they would usually take Kooij to races like Alula, they didn't go for theGC n or many of the Spanish classics.

UAE has Christen and Morgado, who at Visma would spend half the year in altitude training camp no in those races. Perhaps this has affected Morgado in the last two years.
The other difference is that Visma won 3 GTs with 3 drivers and achieved a complete podium, UAE diversifies more in farm races and has failed with Ayuso in GT, and Almeida has none and Kuss and Simon Yates have one GT.

 

[Cycling111]

Visma more reliant on Jonas winning, than UAE on Pog winning.

Not in the big races. Visma won GT with 4 riders, UAE only with Pogacar.

Visma has the same ability Sky had to win Grand Tours with four riders; UAE has failed at that with Ayuso and Almeida.

Kuss's Vuelta and Simon´s Giro victories are more than 20 Alula, TDU, stages in Asturias and Italian classics. And obviously Roglic victories > Almeida+Ayuso+McNult+Vine victories.
The worst thing for them is that a declining Simon and Kuss have won more GTs than Ayuso and Almeida, who were signed to be the Roglic of UAE.

 

[James M]

Not in the big races. Visma won GT with 4 riders, UAE only with Pogacar.

Thats just moving the goalpost and discussing something else.2 of those riders arent even there anymore are we suppose to talk about when Visma had Roglic etc many many years ago or are we suppose to talk about this year which you made it out to be about? Theres really no need at all to move the goalpost.

 

[James M]

Already got Vine, Morgado, Christen getting victories and it's January. Schedule for Del Toro completely in support of Pog's TDF, Almedia is said to be going good, have not seen any tweets about Yates.

McNuggets is rumoured to be be crazy this year btw. They havent sent any of their best riders out there, maybe except Vine? hes argueably up there to some degree. Im atleast a sucker for him hes every watt‑statistical persons wet dream who isn’t an alien.

Anyway to the discussion. I dont know whats a realistic number to guess, to be totally honest. I’m finding it very hard to gauge because I dont feel last year is realistic to judge by at all. And are we supposed to judge by history, where 80+ wins is considered super good and 70 is good?

Also, RBH and Lidl have increasingly better rosters on a serious note and are starting to resemble a real super teams, 20+ men deep + I think teams want to emphasize winning more since Pogacar eats up anything he rides anyway which is the biggest races mostly. On top of that, theres a huge discrepancy in variation due to injuries not only for UAE but other top riders of several teams too which will impact and fluctuate the numbers. Its very hard to gauge, atleast imo.

 

[Cycling111]

Thats just moving the goalpost and discussing something else.2 of those riders arent even there anymore are we suppose to talk about when Visma had Roglic etc many many years ago or are we suppose to talk about this year which you made it out to be about? Theres really no need at all to move the goalpost.

But it's not an isolated rider. It's a trend, and that's why we can't rule out the possibility that this year a young rider from Visma, whom no one expects much from, might make that leap. Simon wasn't even among the top five favorites to win the Giro, and we're not talking about a young prospect like Del Toro, but aa cyclist who was considered to be in decline and had to be a domestique. In fact, Visma previously offered Jorgenson the Giro leadership in 2025.

We don't know what Visma's outsiders can do. Roglic and Vingegaard weren't even considered contenders to win a Grand Tour, and Simon wins it when no one believed in his chances, or that Kuss would at least being the third rider in a GT.

I don't think Jorgenson will win the Vuelta, but I wouldn't rule it out given the circumstances.

The trend tells us that Visma is more capable of winning GT with riders who are not their main leader or even winning with several in the same year. Simon and Kuss were not favorites to win a GT in January.
I haven't changed the subject; these are facts that have happened based on a trend that is repeated in Visma

 

[James M]

But it's not an isolated rider. It's a trend, and that's why we can't rule out the possibility that this year a young rider from Visma, whom no one expects much from, might make that leap. Simon wasn't even among the top five favorites to win the Giro, and we're not talking about a young prospect like Del Toro, but aa cyclist who was considered to be in decline and had to be a domestique. In fact, Visma previously offered Jorgenson the Giro leadership in 2025.

We don't know what Visma's outsiders can do. Roglic and Vingegaard weren't even considered contenders to win a Grand Tour, and Simon wins it when no one believed in his chances, or that Kuss would at least being the third rider in a GT.

I don't think Jorgenson will win the Vuelta, but I wouldn't rule it out given the circumstances.

The trend tells us that Visma is more capable of winning GT with riders who are not their main leader or even winning with several in the same year.

Their irrelevant in this topic you started, one glance at their roster and this is self-explanatory now, wasnt the case in the past we agree but this was about this year remember. Your replying with big wins suddenly and bringing in the past or what will happen in future years which isnt what we were talking about tho. Appriciate if Jorgenson and GT could be a discussion with someone else cause I really cba that, hes one of most overrated GT gc riders there is(good rider overall tho) but that wasnt the discussion if you dont mind I would appriciate if atleast leave me out of that.

Lidl and RBH are way more relevant in that matter you brought up which I dont think is hard to aknowledge nor is it downplaying anyone if we indeed talking about this year. Visma has Jonas which is better than anyone on those teams in stage races and GT and im sure will net them a major win as I also stated we agree on that, but you wanted to adress overall wins not big wins and then its mainly about how deep the roster is 20+ man deep, its different things.