UAE Have Shown Their Tour Hand

This is not just a list of eight strong riders. It is a team built around one job: keep the Tour de France under Tadej Pogačar’s control for three weeks.

UAE Team Emirates-XRG have confirmed their Tour de France line-up, and even if the announcement dropped yesterday, the story is still worth digging into. Because this squad tells us a lot about how UAE expect the race to be won.

Tadej Pogačar is the obvious centre of it all. Four Tour de France titles, 21 Tour stage wins, two road world titles, and a chance this July to move alongside the five-time winners. There is no leadership debate here. UAE are not bringing a shared GC structure. They are bringing a Pogačar structure.

That matters.

Because around him, the balance is clear: mountain lieutenants, all-round engines, time-trial power, positioning riders and enough tactical flexibility to make the race uncomfortable before Pogačar even has to move.

Adam Yates is the most obvious high-mountain support rider. He gives UAE experience, calm and a proven final-climb presence. When the race hits the hardest mountain days, Yates is the rider who can sit deep into the stage and still be there when the group is down to the favourites.

If UAE want to keep Pogačar protected until the final selection, Yates is central to that.

Isaac del Toro is the wildcard. He is only 22 and making his Tour debut, but his 2026 form makes him impossible to treat like a normal domestique.

He gives UAE a climbing weapon who can either pace, attack early, or force rivals into uncomfortable decisions. That is the big tactical benefit. If Del Toro goes up the road, Visma, Red Bull-BORA or Lidl-Trek cannot just ignore him. If he stays with Pogačar, UAE have another serious mountain body late in the race.

Brandon McNulty sits in the middle of the squad’s structure. He is not just a climber and not just a time-trialist. His value is in the in-between stages: rolling terrain, hard transitions, early mountain control, and the opening team time trial.

McNulty is the type of rider who can quietly decide whether Pogačar spends a day protected or exposed.

Felix Großschartner gives UAE another climbing support option, but also useful time-trial strength. He is not the headline name, but in a three-week Tour, riders like this are what keep a GC leader out of trouble before the cameras focus on the final climb.

On hard mountain days, he can ride tempo. On awkward days, he can keep structure.

Then comes the engine room.

Nils Politt is the road captain figure. He is huge for the first week, crosswinds, flat control, positioning and the team time trial. UAE do not just need riders who can climb. They need riders who can stop Pogačar losing the Tour before the mountains.

Politt is one of the key riders for that.

Tim Wellens brings the punchy all-round layer. He can survive hard terrain, control hilly stages, cover moves, and keep UAE present on days that are too hard for pure rouleurs but not selective enough for the GC group.

On lumpy transition days, Wellens becomes very valuable.

Florian Vermeersch is the power addition. Classics engine, big frame, strong positioning ability, and useful strength for controlling chaotic early stages.

His role is not about the final kilometre of Alpe d’Huez. It is about everything before that: keeping Pogačar safe, keeping UAE near the front, and making sure no dangerous split forms without them.

The interesting part is who is not there.

No João Almeida means UAE lose another GC-calibre climbing option, but they also remove any grey area around leadership. There is no question about who this squad is built around. No Marc Soler means fewer chaotic long-range mountain cards. No Jhonatan Narváez means less punchy attacking cover, which puts more responsibility on Wellens and Vermeersch for those awkward stages.

Cyclingnews also notes there is no place for Pavel Sivakov or Mikkel Bjerg, which makes the final selection feel even more deliberate.

That makes this squad slightly less wild, but probably cleaner.

The opening team time trial in Barcelona also explains a lot of the selection. Politt, McNulty, Wellens, Vermeersch and Großschartner give UAE serious power against the clock.

With individual times applying in the TTT, there is no hiding. A poor start could immediately hand seconds to rivals. UAE have picked a team that should avoid that.

This is not UAE’s flashiest possible Tour squad, but it might be one of their most logical.

Pogačar gets Yates and Del Toro for the mountains, McNulty and Großschartner for the mixed terrain, and Politt, Wellens and Vermeersch for the control work that keeps a Tour leader safe.

The only real question is whether Del Toro becomes pure support or a tactical weapon. If UAE use him well, he could be one of the most important riders in the race. If they overcomplicate it, they risk burning energy they do not need to burn.

But on paper, this is a Pogačar control machine.

Not built for debate. Built for yellow.