The ascent of UAE Team Emirates-XRG from its formation in early 2017 to being the dominant force in world cycling has been a dramatic one.
For the past three seasons, the team has topped the UCI World Tour rankings, sweeping up titles across the sport's most prestigious races and firmly cementing their status as the best cycling outfit on the planet.
In 2025, they secured a record-breaking 97 victories, beating a record that had stood for more than 10 years, with the spearhead to that success being the peerless Tadej Pogacar.
The 27-year-old Slovenian has now topped the rider rankings for five consecutive seasons, with a CV that includes four Tour de France titles, one Giro d'Italia crown, 10 one-day Monuments, five Giro di Lombardias, three UAE Tours and two Tour of Flanders, as well as being a two-time World Championships Road Race winner.
And, while Pogacar looks set to rule the roost for a few more years yet, UAE Team Emirates-XRG appear to have unearthed another gem in Mexico's Isaac del Toro.
The 22-year-old came within touching distance of winning last year's Giro d'Italia in what was only his second Grand Tour, only to lose the leader's pink jersey on the penultimate stage.
But that did not stop him going on to finish the season with 18 victories to his name, including seven in the Italian autumn classics. He then started his 2026 season by winning the opening stage of the UAE Tour in spectacular fashion.
The National spoke to UAE Team Emirates-XRG chief operating officer Andrea Agostini – who has been with the group since 2017 and is a key lieutenant of team principal and chief executive Mauro Gianetti - about Pogacar, Del Toro and the team's staggering success story.
Question: How important is the UAE Tour in the season’s plan?
Answer: It's our home race now, so it's always important to come here and have a solid team. We always say that the two most important races for us are the UAE Tour and the Tour de France, so we try to manage with our sports manager, sports director, the best team for trying to win our own race.
You've been with the team since its inception in 2017. How would you explain the team's rapid progress?
When you start a new adventure, you always have a mission. And with Mauro Gianetti, he hired me and said we want to be part of something really special because we are going to become the best team in the world. [That was the aim] from the beginning.
I said, ‘Come on!’, we were the 17th team in the world at that time. But we grew up together, also with the people, the staff, not just in terms of riders. The riders, they are paid to ride the bike and try to win the race. But the most important thing is what you're going to build up around them.
So, the kind of staff, the kind of mentality that they have to have, or all the engineers, or the spot directors, or the visionaries, and so on. We try to hire all people that have the same mentality, the same vision, the same ambition. And, after 10 years, we can say that the dream came true.
Can you describe the support you've received and your relationship with the team's owners over the years?
The backing was incredible from day one. They are fully committed, fully supportive. I can tell you that we have the best owner that you can dream of.
We discuss, we try to understand, but at the end, they let you work. What I can say is that from the human point of view, they are amazing people. Because if one of us has a small problem, a normal life problem, they are supporting us. Riders, staff, management, they are really, really special people.
Looking back on the team's success, can you pick out your proudest moments since joining?
Yeah, there are so many. Personally, I can say the first Tour de France in 2020, the first Tour of Flanders [one of cycling's most prestigious and gruelling races] with Tadej Pogacar, that was pretty unexpected. Yeah, these two.
And on the other side of the coin, your biggest disappointments?
Oh, the Giro d'Italia of last year. We honestly have to say that. When you are in the pure stage races, you usually prepare everything for the last day. Pink cars, pink jerseys, we prepared everything, everything. And, you know, losing the Giro d'Italia on the last day was quite tough. Not for the stuff that you already prepared, but mentally.
We started to taste the feeling of winning the Giro d'Italia with a special guy like Isaac del Toro that is already, he's not the future, he's the present, but he's just 22 years old, so it's something special.
From a management point of view, what do you say to a rider when he comes so close to victory?
What we always say is we aim to have the chance of winning the race. We are not obliged to win the race. [But] sometimes you have also to accept to lose races. It's also part of your culture, no? The culture is, 'OK, we enjoy winning, but there is no drama when we lose.'
We were disappointed, yes, because of how it ended, but the day after we were happy with what we achieved. And we have time to win another.
Isaac went on and finished the season in a fairly spectacular fashion, particularly in the Autumn Classics. Was there a performance or a moment from Isaac where you thought, 'Wow, this guy is something special'?
During the Giro d'Italia. [It] is a stage race, it's 21 days, it's going to mark really well your potential, your engine, no? And for a [then] 21-year-old, we understood immediately that Isaac has a big, big potential.
And for sure, he changed. The Giro d'Italia changed his approach, changed his mentality, changed his confidence in himself. And the last part of the season was amazing.
He closed the season winning and he started [this season] winning [stage one of the UAE Tour]. It was his first race of the year. So, it gives you the idea of his mentality changing – the approach, how he can manage the pressure, what he is demanding of himself.
Switching to Tadej Pogacar - how has he looked in pre-season in terms of motivation and fitness and what can we expect for the coming season?
He's a maniac in terms of [thinking about] equipment, nutrition, everything. He's a super talented person, but he trains a lot, his talent. And everybody around him knows that he wants to be real, real precise in everything. And he's improving year by year.
The data that we have so far seen from our coaches and performance department shows us that his numbers are growing. Still the same, still getting better. So what do we expect? We expect that he's going to, like always, start in a good way. And I hope that everything goes in the right way.
One crown that he hasn’t yet won is the Vuelta [a Espana]. Is that going to be a possibility this season?
Could be possible, but we decided to make [a decision] just after the Tour de France. It depends how demanding the Tour de France is … Not just the Tour de France, how the season goes from his start – on March 7 at the Strade Bianche – through to the Tour de France.
Because they will be riding new races this year. And you know, when you start in a race like Paris-Roubaix or Tour of Flanders, it's not just a race. You have to prepare the race for winning. That is demanding. Real demanding. So, not just from a physical, but also from a psychological point of view. So, we want to make the decision after the Tour de France.
You have worked with Tadej a long time, can you outline some of the improvements or adjustments he has made over that period which have taken him to the level he is at now?
Like I said, he’s a real precise person. So, he's going to count everything around him. And he's going to be aware of everything. And he's a real demanding person. And after that, he's a super-talented person. He was born this way. So, well-trained and well-managed, with all the tools that the team can put on the table for helping in improving is the maths equation.
Has his success surprised you at all?
Yes. We knew that he was a really super talented boy when we hired him in 2019. He just won the Tour de l'Avenir [The Tour of the Future, a prestigious French race for under-23s] and everyone knows that the guy who is able to win the Tour de l'Avenir is, for sure, a good rider. But, to me, where he is now was really difficult to predict. And, yeah, I'm a little bit surprised.
