UAE Team Emirates-XRG teams announced for Valenciana and Oman

UAE Team Emirates-XRG will aim to continue the strong start to the season in search of further victories at the Vuelta Valenciana 5-9 Feb , as well as two fixtures in the Middle-East at the Muscat Classic (7 Feb) followed by the Tour of Oman (8-12 Feb).

Several riders will make their season debuts with high-hopes across the board as the team looks to add to the five victories already this season.

 
Sports Manager Matxin Fernandez (Spa) will lead the team in Vuelta Valenciana, being joined by Sports Directors Fabrizio Guidi (Ita) and Marco Marzano (Ita).

 
Matxin Fernandez : “ We started the year with many victories which we are obviously very pleased with, but also the attitude and attacking mentality the team has showed in the first races has been fantastic and something we are proud of.

We won here last year with Brandon McNulty and we will aim to defend that title this year. 

We have the unusual prospect of the TTT to open the race and we have selected a team very focussed on that stage. No doubt our rivals will be preparing for it also, so we need to be on our best level which I’m confident we will be.

The Valencia region has had a devastating few months and I know a lot of hard work has gone on behind the scenes to make this race happen and we hope we can put on a good show for the people there.”

Almeida : “I’m very excited to start the season. It has been a good winter and I feel like the condition is good and where it needs to be. It’s not so often we get to start with a team time-trial but with the strength of the team we have I think we can be confident to put in a good performance.

We’ll have several cards to play, for sure I hope to aim for a big result. Brandon won this race last year and seems to always fly at this time of year so it’s good to have options for the GC. The most important will be the search for victories as a collective.”

 
Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana [2.Pro] – 05-Feb-2025 / 09-Feb-2025

Joao Almeida (Por)
Filippo Baroncini (Ita)

Felix Grossschartner (Ger)

Julius Johansen (Den)

Brandon McNulty (USA)

Ivo Oliveira (Por)

Pavel Sivakov (Fra)

In Oman Adam Yates will return to defend his crown from 12 months ago, backed by a team of veterans and youngsters for the Muscat Classic and the Tour of Oman.

The team will be under the supervision of the Sports Director pairing of Marco Marcato (Ita) and Yousif Mirza (UAE).

Yates: “It’s always exciting to pin a number on again after a long break. Obviously I’ve got great memories in Oman from what we did there last year. If we could repeat that it would be perfect but there will be competition no doubt.  It’s a balanced team with Majka and Vine for the climbs and then some of the bigger guys for the flats and a chance too for the Gen Z guys to step-up and show themselves at this level. All-round I’m just keen to get things going and get racing.”

 
Muscat Classic [1.1] – 07-Feb-2025 / Tour of Oman [2.Pro] – 08-Feb-2025 / 12-Feb-2025

Vegard Stake Laengen (Nor)
Rafal Majka (Pol)

Florian Vermeersch (Bel)

Jay Vine (Aus)

Adam Yates (GB)

Luca Giami (Ita) (Gen Z)

Anze Ravbar (Slo) (Gen Z)