Why UAE Emirates-XRG rode so hard behind the Tour de France breakaway: 'This was not a finish for us'

UAE Emirates-XRG raised plenty of eyebrows among cycling fans during Stage 9 of the Tour de France on Sunday. A high-quality breakaway featuring Mathieu van der Poel was out in front and appeared set to fight for the stage victory, yet Tadej Pogačar’s team continued to set a consistently high pace until deep into the finale. Were they trying to win the stage themselves? No, team manager Mauro Gianetti told IDL Pro Cycling.

UAE have been the dominant force in this Tour de France. The team won Stages 2 and 3 with leaders Isaac del Toro and Pogačar, while the Slovenian was convincingly the strongest rider in the first mountain stage on day six. When UAE remained firmly positioned at the front of the peloton during Stage 9, many viewers will therefore have feared another display of dominance. This time, however, the spectacular performance came not from Pogačar but from Van der Poel.

The Alpecin-Premier Tech rider repeatedly attacked from a large breakaway, gradually reducing the group while also keeping the peloton at a safe distance. UAE brought the gap down to around 50 seconds, but Gianetti insisted that the team never intended to close that final minute. “We weren’t chasing,” the Swiss manager stated firmly when asked why his riders had maintained such a high pace.

Gianetti offered a different explanation for UAE’s presence at the front of the peloton. “Every time we lowered the pace in the peloton, riders started attacking again. Some of them were general-classification riders who were still only a few minutes behind. We genuinely tried to reduce the pace step by step, but several teams were not happy with the composition of the breakaway. We were. We thought it was perfect.”

Because the breakaway was never allowed to build a lead of several minutes, Gianetti said UAE constantly had to respond to fresh attacks. “At a certain point, we decided it was better simply to keep the pace high. Once the breakaway had a lead of a minute and a half, Netcompany INEOS eventually began to chase. We wanted to let the breakaway go. We never wanted to bring them back.”

Tim Wellens confirmed that version of events when speaking to the external broadcaster NOS after the finish. “They began riding away in the breakaway fairly quickly. We then had to decide whether to increase the pace or not. The sports directors said they could be given more time — much more time,” the Belgian said, supporting Gianetti’s explanation. Wellens did acknowledge that a reduced-peloton sprint with Del Toro was available as a Plan B. “But we didn’t want to commit absolutely everything to it.”

UAE eventually disappeared from the front during the finale, with INEOS and Lidl-Trek still believing they had an opportunity to bring the race back together for a sprint — partly because of the pace Pogačar’s team had already maintained. “We wanted to let the breakaway go and recover as much as possible. This was not a finish for us. Stages like these are won by riders with a different profile.”

Wellens also explained that UAE’s work did not require an excessive amount of energy. “Only Felix [Grossschartner] and I had to ride at the front today. We didn’t even have to work during the final 40 kilometres on the flat. Personally, I would rather ride hard on the climbs, when everyone is suffering, than ride slowly everywhere and have to work throughout the entire day. I was happy to ride at the front on the climb. What I would not have enjoyed was riding at the front during the final 30 kilometres, into a headwind on those wide roads.”