Runaway Train: UAE Team Emirates Is The Success Story of 2025 (Thus Far)
Photo: Getty Images
It's not all about Tadej Pogačar: Jay Vine’s Coppi e Bartali stage win Saturday continues remarkable momentum of UAE.
Sat, March 29, 2025
The team is most often regarded as being all about Tadej Pogačar but, as the 2025 season unfolds, UAE Team Emirates-XRG is proving that it is far more than that.
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Jay Vine’s swashbuckling triumph in Forli on Saturday’s final stage of the Settimana Internazionale Coppi e Bartali came two days after his stage success into Cesena.
The Australian clipped away inside the final 15km Saturday to reach the line 33 seconds clear of the chasing bunch.
It was the eighth victory of his career, his second of the season and, significantly, the 23rd by his team already this year.
Is that significant?
You could certainly say that: Visma-Lease a Bike is the next best on 12 wins. Lidl-Trek has 11.
And Soudal Quick-Step, which for many years was the winningest squad in the sport, has just nine.
It’s early days yet, but UAE Team Emirates-XRG is on a rampage.
It’s not all about PogVine won Saturday in Italy, and also on Thursday. (Photo by Dario Belingheri/Getty Images)
Pogačar was the big success story of 2024. He won the Giro, took the Tour, and then triumphed in the world road race championships.
In all he racked up 25 victories and proved he is the best rider of the modern era, and possibly of all time.
This season he’s impressing as well, yet don’t presume his success is the key to his team’s numerical dominance.
Thus far he’s contributed just four of UAE Team Emirates – XRG’s 23 wins.
The team is about far more than just one rider.
Juan Ayuso is proving that in Catalunya, soloing home on Wednesday’s third stage, and gripping the GC lead going into Sunday’s final leg.
Providing he can hold off the threat of multiple grand tour champion Primož Roglič (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe), who lurks one second behind, he’ll add Catalunya success to the Tirreno-Adriatico title he took earlier this month.
He’s on a roll, and so too are his teammates.
No fewer than 11 of them have sprayed the champagne this year, marking dominance across the board.
Out-stinging the killer bees?
Roglič edged out Ayuso on Thursday, but the Spaniard won stage three
and holds the race lead heading into Sunday’s concluding stage
(Photo by Szymon Gruchalski/Getty Images)
It seems like only yesterday Visma-Lease a Bike was the top dog in the sport.
The team had a sublime 2023, winning the Tour de France with Jonas Vingegaard, the Giro with Roglič, and the Vuelta with Sepp Kuss.
It was the first time in the history of the sport that one squad had won all three grand tours in the same year. The fact that Kuss, Vingegaard and Roglič filled the top three slots in the Vuelta podium further underlined its dominance.
All changed last year for the killer bees.
Vingegaard was below par due to his big crash in Itzulia Basque Country. Roglič had moved on to Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe, and Kuss was struggling to replicate the heights of the previous year.
And UAE Team Emirates?
It was on a charge, dominating the season with Pogačar and notching up 81 successes by the end of the season.
Lidl-Trek had half that with 42.
2025 is looking ominously like a repeat of 2024, even if there are many, many months to go.
Visma-Lease a Bike and others are trying to respond. Ben Tulett triumphed overall on Saturday, finishing 18 seconds clear of fellow Briton Mark Donovan (Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team) in Settimana Internazionale Coppi e Bartali.
He also won stage four, and looks set for a big season.
“It’s been a great start to the year,” he said. “I’m really happy with my form and my performances so far. That gives me a lot of confidence for the rest of the season.”
It will, but Visma-Lease a Bike will need Tulett, Vingegaard and others to keep performing if they are to return to the heights of 2023.
For now, though, the breeze of battle is firmly in the sails of UAE Team Emirates – XRG.
If Ayuso wins Catalunya Sunday, and if Pogačar carries top form into the upcoming spring classics, that tailwind will only grow stronger.
Shane Stokes has written about pro cycling for over 25 years, covering grand tours, world championships, Classics and other major events during that time. He's been the Irish Times cycling correspondent for over two decades, appeared regularly on that country’s national broadcaster RTE in analyzing the sport, and contributed to Velo and many of the sport’s international outlets. When not writing about cycling he’s happiest in nature on a sunny day, particularly with a dog or two in tow.
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