UAE Team Emirates
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.
Team information | |||||||||||||||||||||||
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UCI code | UAD | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Registered | Italy (1999–2016) UAE (2017–present) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Founded | 1999 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Discipline(s) | Road | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Status | UCI WorldTeam | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Bicycles | Colnago | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Components | Shimano, Enve | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Website | Team home page | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Key personnel | |||||||||||||||||||||||
General manager | Mauro Gianetti | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Team manager(s) | Matxin Fernandez | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Team name history | |||||||||||||||||||||||
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History
The team was temporarily suspended from the ProTour in 2010, missing one ProTour event.[1]
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 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]
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
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- Joined on 1 August
- Retired on 15 May
Major wins
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
References
- "Lampre granted temporary ProTour license - Cyclingnews.com". cyclingnews.com. Archived from the original on 1 April 2010. Retrieved 26 January 2010.
- "TJ Sport Consultation to take over Lampre-Merida's WorldTour licence". cyclingnews.com. 26 August 2016. Archived from the original on 2 September 2016. Retrieved 3 September 2016.
- Farrand, Stephen (3 September 2016). "Saronni reveals details of the new Chinese WorldTour team". cyclingnews.com. Archived from the original on 4 September 2016. Retrieved 3 September 2016.
- Farrand, Stephen (13 December 2016). "New sponsor set to save TJ Sport team after problems with Chinese backers". cyclingnews.com. Archived from the original on 28 December 2016. Retrieved 26 December 2016.
- "Saronni reveals how he secured UAE Abu Dhabi's WorldTour licence". cyclingnews.com. 26 December 2016. Archived from the original on 11 January 2019. Retrieved 26 December 2016.
- "Fly Emirates to sponsor UAE Abu Dhabi team - Cyclingnews.com". cyclingnews.com. Archived from the original on 22 February 2017. Retrieved 21 February 2017.
- "UAE Team Emirates brings on new sponsor ahead of Tour de France - Cyclingnews.com". cyclingnews.com. Archived from the original on 2 July 2017. Retrieved 29 June 2017.
- "Team - UAE Team Emirates". UAE Team Emirates. Archived from the original on 7 January 2022. Retrieved 9 January 2022.
- "Jan Christen officially joins UAE Team Emirates". uaeteamemirates.com. UAE Team Emirates. 1 August 2023. Archived from the original on 2 August 2023. Retrieved 2 August 2023.