UAE Team Emirates XRG

History

The team was established in 2017 as UAE Abu Dhabi before being renamed UAE Team Emirates in 2018. It is sponsored by the UAE government and the team has achieved notable success in various prestigious races, including stage wins and overall victories in Grand Tours (the Tour de France, Giro d'Italia, and Vuelta a España) and one-day races. The team was temporarily suspended from the ProTour in 2010, missing one ProTour event.

Transition from an Italian-based team

Chinese involvement

In August 2016 the team (then called Lampre-Merida) confirmed that its WorldTeam licence was being transferred from CGS Cycling to Chinese company TJ Sport Consultation, with the team becoming the first Chinese WorldTour team from 2017. Former team manager Mauro Gianetti was announced as the co-ordinator for the project.

In an interview with La Gazzetta dello Sport the following month, Saronni confirmed that he and CGS Cycling would continue to manage the team on TJ Sport's behalf, and that the team's bicycles would be supplied by Colnago. He indicated that the project was being co-ordinated by the Chinese government via TJ Sport with involvement from a number of Chinese companies including Alibaba, and that its aim was to develop Chinese cycling and riders.

When the UCI awarded 17 WorldTour licences to teams in November, it announced that TJ Sport's application was "under review" by its Licensing Commission. According to Saronni, the reason for the delay was that the head of the TJ Sport project, Li Zhiqiang, had fallen seriously ill, which prevented funding for the project from being confirmed.

Emirati rescue

As a result, the team looked elsewhere for sponsorship, securing funding from the United Arab Emirates and changing its name to UAE Abu Dhabi. The UCI confirmed the team's WorldTour licence on 20 December. In February 2017, the team announced that airline Emirates had signed on with the team as a naming-rights sponsor. The team was subsequently known as UAE Team Emirates.

In June 2017, two days before the 2017 Tour de France the team announced it would also be sponsored by the First Abu Dhabi Bank, an amalgamation of the First Gulf Bank and the National Bank of Abu Dhabi, with their logo being added to the chest and side of the team's jersey. Additionally, in December 2024, the Abu Dhabi-based energy company XRG was added as a team co-title sponsor and the official energy partner, for at least a six-year term, resulting in the latest team name change.

Team roster

Major wins

Main article: List of wins by Colnago–Lampre and its successors

National, continental, and world champions

;1999 :[[File:MaillotBélgica.PNG|20px]] Belgian Road Race, Ludo Dierckxsens ;2000 :[[File:MaillotSudáfrica.PNG|20px]] South African Time Trial, Robbie Hunter :[[File:MaillotLetonia.PNG|20px]] Latvian Time Trial, Raivis Belohvoščiks ;2001 :[[File:MaillotLetonia.PNG|20px]] Latvian Time Trial, Raivis Belohvoščiks ;2002 :[[File:MaillotLetonia.PNG|20px]] Latvian Time Trial, Raivis Belohvoščiks :[[File:MaillotLetonia.PNG|20px]] Latvian Road Race, Raivis Belohvoščiks ;2005 :[[File:MaillotAustria.PNG|20px]] Austrian Road Race, Gerrit Glomser ;2006 :[[File:Jersey italianflag.svg|20px]] Italian Time Trial, Marzio Bruseghin ;2007 :[[File:MaillotEslovenia.PNG|20px]] Slovenian Road Race, Tadej Valjavec ;2008 :[[File:Jersey rainbow.svg|20px]] World Road Race, Alessandro Ballan ;2011 :[[File:MaillotEslovenia.PNG|20px]] Slovenian Road Race, Grega Bole :[[File:MaillotUcrania.PNG|20px]] Ukrainian Road Race, Oleksandr Kvachuk :[[File:MaillotUcrania.PNG|20px]] Ukrainian Time Trial, Oleksandr Kvachuk :[[File:Jersey italianflag.svg|20px]] Italian Time Trial, Adriano Malori ;2014 :[[File:MaillotPortugal.PNG|20px]] Portuguese Time Trial, Nelson Oliveira :[[File:MaillotPortugal.PNG|20px]] Portuguese Road Race, Nelson Oliveira ;2015 :[[File:MaillotPortugal.PNG|20px]] Portuguese Time Trial, Nelson Oliveira :[[File:Maillot ethiopia.png|20px]] Ethiopian Road Race, Tsgabu Grmay :[[File:Maillot ethiopia.png|20px]] Ethiopian Time Trial, Tsgabu Grmay :[[File:MaillotPortugal.PNG|20px]] Portuguese Road Race, Rui Costa :[[File:MaillotEslovenia.PNG|20px]] Slovenian Road Race, Luka Pibernik :[[File:NC Taipei Taiwan.jpg|20px]] Taiwanese Road Race, Feng Chun-kai :[[File:NC Taipei Taiwan.jpg|20px]] Taiwanese Time Trial, Feng Chun-kai ;2017 :[[File: UAE NC.png|20px]] UAE Time Trial, Yousif Mirza :[[File: UAE NC.png|20px]] UAE Road Race, Yousif Mirza :[[File:MaillotEslovenia.PNG|20px]] Slovenian Time Trial, Jan Polanc :[[File:European champion jersey 2016.svg|20px]] European Track (Individual pursuit), Filippo Ganna ;2018 :[[File:Jersey rainbow.svg|20px]] World Track (Individual pursuit), Filippo Ganna :[[File: UAE NC.png|20px]] UAE Time Trial, Yousif Mirza :[[File: UAE NC.png|20px]] UAE Road Race, Yousif Mirza :[[File:MaillotNoruega.PNG|20px]] Norwegian Road Race, Vegard Stake Laengen ;2019 :[[File: UAE NC.png|20px]] UAE Time Trial, Yousif Mirza :[[File: UAE NC.png|20px]] UAE Road Race, Yousif Mirza :[[File:MaillotEslovenia.PNG|20px]] Slovenian Time Trial, Tadej Pogačar ;2020 :[[File:MaillotEslovenia.PNG|20px]] Slovenian Time Trial, Tadej Pogačar :[[File:MaillotPortugal.PNG|20px]] Portuguese Time Trial, Ivo Oliveira :[[File:MaillotPortugal.PNG|20px]] Portuguese Road Race, Rui Costa :[[File:MaillotNoruega.PNG|20px]] Norwegian Road Race, Sven Erik Bystrøm :[[File:European champion jersey 2016.svg|20px]] European Track (Individual pursuit), Ivo Oliveira ;2021 :[[File:African Continental Champion Jersey.png|20px]] African Time Trial, Ryan Gibbons :[[File: UAE NC.png|20px]] UAE Road Race, Yousif Mirza :[[File: UAE NC.png|20px]] UAE Time Trial, Yousif Mirza :[[File:African Continental Champion Jersey.png|20px]] African Road Race, Ryan Gibbons :[[File:MaillotSudáfrica.PNG|20px]] South Africa Time Trial, Ryan Gibbons ;2022 :[[File: UAE NC.png|20px]] UAE Road Race, Yousif Mirza :[[File: UAE NC.png|20px]] UAE Time Trial, Yousif Mirza :[[File:MaillotSuiza.svg|20px]] Swiss Time Trial, Joel Suter :[[File:MaillotPortugal.PNG|20px]] Portuguese Road Race, João Almeida ;2023 :[[File:MaillotAustralia.PNG|20px]] Australian Time Trial, Jay Vine :[[File:MaillotEslovenia.PNG|20px]] Slovenian Time Trial, Tadej Pogačar :[[File:MaillotEslovenia.PNG|20px]] Slovenian Road Race, Tadej Pogačar :[[File:MaillotUSA.PNG|20px]] American Time Trial, Brandon McNulty :[[File:MaillotPortugal.PNG|20px]] Portuguese Time Trial, João Almeida :[[File:MaillotSuiza.svg|20px]] Swiss Road Race, Marc Hirschi ;2024 :[[File:Jersey rainbow.svg|20px]] World Road Race Championships, Tadej Pogačar :[[File:MaillotUSA.PNG|20px]] American Time Trial, Brandon McNulty :[[File:MaillotAustria.PNG|20px]] Austrian Time Trial, Felix Großschartner :[[File:MaillotBélgica.PNG|20px]] Belgian Time Trial, Tim Wellens :[[File:MaillotAllemania.svg|20px]] German Time Trial, Nils Politt :[[File:MaillotPortugal.PNG|20px]] Portuguese Time Trial, António Morgado :[[File:MaillotEslovenia.PNG|20px]] Slovenian Road Race, Domen Novak ;2025 :[[File:Jersey rainbow.svg|20px]] World Road Race Championships, Tadej Pogačar :[[File:European champion jersey 2016.svg|20px]] European Road Race Championships, Tadej Pogačar :[[File:MaillotAustria.PNG|20px]] Austrian Time Trial, Felix Großschartner :[[File:MaillotBélgica.PNG|20px]] Belgian Road Race, Tim Wellens :[[File:Ecuador_NC.png|20px]] Ecuador Road Race, Jhonatan Narváez

: Polish Road Race, Rafał Majka :[[File:MaillotPortugal.PNG|20px]] Portuguese Road Race, Ivo Oliveira :[[File:MaillotPortugal.PNG|20px]] Portuguese Time Trial, António Morgado : Mexican Time Trial, Isaac del Toro : Mexican Road Race, Isaac del Toro

References

References

1. (17 December 2024). "XRG Named as Co-Title Partner and Official Energy Partner of UAE Team Emirates".
2. (2024). "The joule in the crown".
3. "Lampre granted temporary ProTour license - Cyclingnews.com".
4. . (26 August 2016). ["TJ Sport Consultation to take over Lampre-Merida's WorldTour licence"](http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/tj-sport-consultation-to-take-over-lampre-meridas-worldtour-licence/).
5. Farrand, Stephen. (3 September 2016). "Saronni reveals details of the new Chinese WorldTour team".
6. Farrand, Stephen. (13 December 2016). "New sponsor set to save TJ Sport team after problems with Chinese backers".
7. . (26 December 2016). ["Saronni reveals how he secured UAE Abu Dhabi's WorldTour licence"](http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/saronni-reveals-how-he-secured-uae-abu-dhabis-worldtour-licence/).
8. "Fly Emirates to sponsor UAE Abu Dhabi team".
9. "UAE Team Emirates brings on new sponsor ahead of Tour de France".
10. "UAE Team Emirates". UCI.