UAE and Pogacar remain mysterious about world champion's grand tour plans, but Soler reveals his leader’s program

UAE Team Emirates' year could hardly have been better. With two grand tours, two monuments, a world title, and 81 wins in total, it may have been a team's best year ever. But in 2025, UAE Team Emirates-XRG has set new goals. Clearly, all three grand tours are high on the list. And Tadej Pogacar already knows which tours he will ride.

"We will compete for victory in all three grand tours," Joxean 'Matxin' Fernandez told AS. Of course, Pogacar will ride the Tour de France, but over the winter, the Slovenian still doubted whether he would ride the Giro d'Italia or Vuelta a España. That decision has been made. "The eight-strong team for the Vuelta is already known. During the UAE Tour, Tadej will soon announce what else is on his program." Earlier, Pogi announced he would ride many classics, making the Giro less of a possibility.

The world champion will ride the Vuelta because Matxin confirmed that Juan Ayuso will go for the GC in the Giro. "I am convinced that Juan will take a new step in his career this season. And on all levels: personal, athletic, physiological. There is more to achieve than in previous years."

Of course, the 54-year-old Spaniard sees it will be challenging. A team has only succeeded once before. "It's a challenge. Complicated? Of course. We wanted it several years ago, and Jumbo accomplished it in 2023. You see it happening up close, but then at the same time, it seems far away," he philosophizes.

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Juan Ayuso will be allowed to go for his own chances in the Giro.

No Jumbo scenario: "Situation then was unpleasant"

Matxin does not reveal whether he wants to do it with three different riders, like Jumbo-Visma. "I can't say anything about that. Moreover, as far as I could see from the outside, the situation was a bit unpleasant,' he refers to the situation between leaders Jonas Vingegaard, Primoz Roglic, and eventual winner Sepp Kuss. 'We want to give the riders space so that later in certain races, there can be harmony and everyone is happy, as happened in the Tour and Giro when Tadej won."

The team has undoubtedly grown considerably more substantial, with Jhonatan Narváez and Pablo Torres joining the team. But are there any riders the team has missed out on? "Albert Philipsen," replies the team manager. "I didn't talk to him specifically, but the team did. He was looking for a multidisciplinary opportunity we couldn't offer him because we don't have mountain biking or cyclo-cross teams. For him, Lidl-Trek was the ideal choice for what he was looking for." The 18-year-old Dane impressed at the Tour Down Under, winning the youth classification.

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Soler reveals program Pogacar

Well, whether Pogacar will ride the Vuelta is not yet certain, but all signs point to a start in the last grand tour of the year. The world champion and his team are still keeping quiet, but Marc Soler has already revealed that he will be a domestique for Pogi in the Vuelta a España, which starts in Turin, Italy. In Javier Ares'  El Pinganillo podcast, the Spaniard talked about his goals for next season. "It's simple: we want to win the Tour and the Vuelta with Tadej."

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