Since their inception three years ago, UAE Team Emirates had always promised they were destined for great things, but even in their wildest dream they could not have expected to be at the pinnacle of the cycling world by 2020.
Tadej Pogacar certainly had a birthday to remember on Monday as he marked 22 years by becoming the youngest post-Second World War Tour de France winner.
A sensational time trial on the penultimate stage overhauled Primoz Roglic’s 57-second lead in the three-week slog across France, truly announcing UAE Team Emirates’ arrival on the big stage.
The sky is now the limit for a young Pogacar and an even younger UAE Team Emirates as they target a sustained period at the top of the table, with next year’s other majors — the Giro d’Italia and Vuelta a Espana — in their sights along with the defence of their hard-earned Tour de France crown.
As recently as 2016, this team was nothing more than an idea in the head of former Italian cyclist Giuseppe Saronni. He launched the Lampre-Merida team four years ago, and following a short-lived term as a Chinese World Tour team, Team UAE Emirates came into being in early 2017, with the nation pledging to land major honours and revolutionise the sport.
“The new challenge is to represent a whole nation of the UAE, which are strongly interested in promoting cycling and in presenting as a top level sports and cycling hub,” the team promised at the launch in Abu Dhabi on January 4, 2017.
Fast forward three little years, and job done!
UAE’s most famous moments in sport
On Sunday, Pogacar made history as he crossed the finish line near the Champs Elysees in Paris to celebrate one of the UAE’s most famous moments in sport and become the youngest winner in more than 100 years of the Tour de France, cycling’s biggest and most famous race.
The young Slovenian was allowed to savour the traditional final-stage procession into Paris on Sunday, having done all the hard work on Saturday in the time trial as Roglic crumbled under relentless pressure from the sensational UAE rider.
“My dream was just to take part,” said Tour debutant Pogacar. “I could hear nothing on the final climb and I went for it with everything.”
Not content with claiming the famous yellow jersey by beating fellow Slovenian Roglic in the General Classification category, Pogacar also took the King of the Mountains polka dot top and the white jersey for best young rider.
The sky is now the limit for a young Pogacar and an even younger UAE Team Emirates as they target a sustained period at the top of the table, with next year’s other majors — the Giro d’Italia and Vuelta a Espana — in their sights along with the defence of their hard-earned Tour de France crown.
