UAE Team Emirates

UAE Team Emirates

Team information
UCI code	UAD
Registered	Italy (1999–2016) UAE (2017–present)
Founded	1999 (1999)
Discipline(s)	Road
Status	UCI WorldTeam
Bicycles	Colnago
Components	Campagnolo
Website	Team home page
Key personnel
General manager	Giuseppe Saronni
Team manager(s)	Fabrizio Bontempi
Team name history
1999–2002 Lampre–Daikin 2003–2004 Lampre–Caffita 2005 Lampre 2006–2007 Lampre–Fondital 2008 Lampre 2009 Lampre–NGC 2010 Lampre–Farnese Vini 2011–2012 Lampre–ISD 2013–2016 Lampre–Merida 2017 UAE Abu Dhabi 2017– UAE Team Emirates
Current season

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. However the team was temporarily suspended from the ProTour in 2010, missing one ProTour event.^[1]

The general manager, Giuseppe Saronni, was himself a famous professional cyclist, a world champion and winner of two editions of the Giro d'Italia.

Transition from an Italian-based team[]

Chinese involvement[]

In August 2016 the team (then called Lampre-Mérida) 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] However, 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 21 July 2021.^[8][9]

Rider Date of birth  Andrés Ardila (COL) (1999-06-02) 2 June 1999 (age 22)  Juan Ayuso (ESP) (2002-09-16) 16 September 2002 (age 19)  Mikkel Bjerg (DEN) (1998-11-03) 3 November 1998 (age 23)  Sven Erik Bystrøm (NOR) (1992-01-21) 21 January 1992 (age 29)  Valerio Conti (ITA) (1993-03-30) 30 March 1993 (age 28)  Rui Costa (POR) (1986-10-05) 5 October 1986 (age 35)  Alessandro Covi (ITA) (1998-09-28) 28 September 1998 (age 23)  David de la Cruz (ESP) (1989-05-06) 6 May 1989 (age 32)  Joe Dombrowski (USA) (1991-05-12) 12 May 1991 (age 30)  Finn Fisher-Black (NZL) (2001-12-21) 21 December 2001 (age 20)  Davide Formolo (ITA) (1992-10-25) 25 October 1992 (age 29)  Fernando Gaviria (COL) (1994-08-19) 19 August 1994 (age 27)  Ryan Gibbons (RSA) (1994-08-13) 13 August 1994 (age 27)  Marc Hirschi (SUI) (1998-08-24) 24 August 1998 (age 23)  Alexander Kristoff (NOR) (1987-07-05) 5 July 1987 (age 34)  Vegard Stake Laengen (NOR) (1989-02-07) 7 February 1989 (age 32)

Rider Date of birth  Rafał Majka (POL) (1989-09-12) 12 September 1989 (age 32)  Marco Marcato (ITA) (1984-02-11) 11 February 1984 (age 37)  Brandon McNulty (USA) (1998-04-02) 2 April 1998 (age 23)  Yousif Mirza (UAE) (1988-10-08) 8 October 1988 (age 33)  Juan Sebastián Molano (COL) (1994-11-04) 4 November 1994 (age 27)  Cristian Camilo Muñoz (COL) (1996-03-20) 20 March 1996 (age 25)  Ivo Oliveira (POR) (1996-09-05) 5 September 1996 (age 25)  Rui Oliveira (POR) (1996-09-05) 5 September 1996 (age 25)  Tadej Pogačar (SLO) (1998-09-21) 21 September 1998 (age 23)  Jan Polanc (SLO) (1992-05-06) 6 May 1992 (age 29)  Alexandr Riabushenko (BLR) (1995-10-12) 12 October 1995 (age 26)  Maximiliano Richeze (ARG) (1983-03-07) 7 March 1983 (age 38)  Matteo Trentin (ITA) (1989-08-02) 2 August 1989 (age 32)  Oliviero Troia (ITA) (1994-09-01) 1 September 1994 (age 27)  Diego Ulissi (ITA) (1989-07-15) 15 July 1989 (age 32)

Major wins[]

National, continental, and world champions[]

References[]

External links[]

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