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UAE Emirates didn’t win the last two editions of the Tour de France, but its going all-in to secure the yellow jersey through the coming decade.
The team of Tadej Pogačar this weekend signed Tour de l’Avenir champion Isaac del Toro on a three-year deal.
The arrival of the Mexican prodigy is just the latest step in UAE Emirates’ quest for long-term grand tour dominance as it looks to hold the wheels of the incoming “Soudal-Visma” supersquad.
“We are very pleased and excited to welcome Isaac into the team,” said team principal Mauro Gianetti. “He is a young man with promising talent and we look forward to seeing him developing both as a cyclist and as a person over the next years with us.”
Del Toro this season usurped U.S. ace Matthew Riccitello in the prestigious “Tour of the Future” to join an illustrious list of past winners that includes Tour de France champions Pogačar and Egan Bernal.
🇲🇽 Isaac Del Toro, la révélation mexicaine du 59ème Tour de l’Avenir
📸 Lewis Catel#TDAV #TourdelAvenir ✨ pic.twitter.com/UJEIbc36aQ
— Tour de l’Avenir (@tourdelavenir) August 28, 2023
The 19-year-old is the latest grand tour-potential talent the team has bagged through 2026 and beyond.
Del Toro, Pogačar, Ayuso, João Almeida, Brandon McNulty, Swiss phenom Jan Christen, and eight more are pinned for three years to the state-backed team.
Furthermore, eight riders are booked to UAE Emirates through 2027, and Christen and Ayuso are signed until 2028 in what are the two longest-running contracts in the WorldTour.
“We have a project that no one has in terms of security and continuity over time,” team director Joxean Fernández Matxín told the Escapa Podcast. “We can make a contract for Ayuso without ‘jumping into the pool.’”
UAE Emirates can dish out long-term contracts that aren’t otherwise feasible in the sponsorship revolving-door of the WorldTour.
Pogačar’s team is guaranteed UAE Dhiram for seasons to come, unlike the season-to-season situation of so many of its rivals.
Those assurances means the team can look to the horizon for its Tour de France goals.
“No one else can guarantee a team for eight, 10 years, other than UAE and Mauro Giannetti. Having the size of sponsors we have has a lot of merit,” Matxín said.
Del Toro one of elite club to win Tour de l’Avenir
Isaac del Toro joins UAE Emirates as Pogačar’s crew looks to keep pace with ‘Soudal-Visma’. (Photo courtesy adncycling)
Del Toro roared into the headlines at the cost of U.S. sensation Riccitello this summer at the Tour de l’Avenir.
He outsprinted Riccitello for prestigious mountaintop victory on the Col de la Loze “queen stage” of the must-win devo tour and went on to rip the overall race lead from the Arizonan on the final day of racing.
“It’s an honor to be joining UAE Team Emirates. I feel very proud to be welcomed as a part of this great family. It is something incredible to describe and I will give my best over the next years,” Del Toro said.
“I have a lot to learn and a huge appetite to start that process and develop within the team. It’s what I’ve always dreamed of to get to this moment and I’m very excited for what the future holds.”
UAE Emirates will be hoping Del Toro’s future promises similar to that now enjoyed by recent l’Avenir winners and GC candidates Pogačar, Bernal, Cian Uijtdebroeks, and David Gaudu.
Cycling Supertalents scouted and secured by Matxin:
🇧🇪Remco Evenepoel (for QST)
🇵🇹Joao Almeida (for QST)
🇸🇮Tadej Pogacar (for QST/UAE)
🇪🇸Juan Ayuso (for UAE)
🇵🇹Antonio Morgado (for UAE)
🇲🇽Isaac Del Toro (for UAE)
Let him cook.
📸@SprintCycling pic.twitter.com/0II3kCd0yf
— MF Naichaca (@NaichacaCycling) October 1, 2023