UAE Team Emirates

For the women's team, see UAE Team ADQ.

UAE Team Emirates

File:UAE Team Emirates.png
Team information
UCI code	UAD
Registered	Italy (1999–2016) UAE (2017–present)
Founded	1999 (1999)
Discipline(s)	Road
Status	UCI WorldTeam
Bicycles	Colnago
Components	Campagnolo
Website	Team home page
Key personnel
General manager	Giuseppe Saronni
Team manager(s)	Fabrizio Bontempi
Team name history
1999–2002 Lampre–Daikin 2003–2004 Lampre–Caffita 2005 Lampre 2006–2007 Lampre–Fondital 2008 Lampre 2009 Lampre–NGC 2010 Lampre–Farnese Vini 2011–2012 Lampre–ISD 2013–2016 Lampre–Merida 2017 UAE Abu Dhabi 2017– UAE Team Emirates

UAE Team Emirates (UCI team code: UAD) is an Emirati road bicycle racing team. The team competes at UCI WorldTeam level and has done so since the UCI World Tour was formed as the top category of road cycling in 2005. However the team was temporarily suspended from the ProTour in 2010, missing one ProTour event.

The general manager, Giuseppe Saronni, was himself a famous professional cyclist, a world champion and winner of two editions of the Giro d'Italia.

Transition from an Italian-based team

Chinese involvement

In August 2016 the team (then called Lampre-Mérida) 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 Saunier Duval–Prodir 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. However, 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.

Team roster

As of 18 January 2022.

Rider Date of birth Pascal Ackermann (GER) (1994-01-17) January 17, 1994 João Almeida (POR) (1998-08-05) 5 August 1998 Andres Camilo Ardila (COL) (1999-06-02) 2 June 1999 Juan Ayuso (ESP) (2002-09-16) 16 September 2002 George Bennett (NZL) (1990-04-07) 7 April 1990 Mikkel Bjerg (DEN) (1998-11-03) 3 November 1998 Alexys Brunel (FRA) (1998-10-10) 10 October 1998 Alessandro Covi (ITA) (1998-09-28) 28 September 1998 Rui Costa (POR) (1986-10-05) 5 October 1986 Finn Fisher-Black (NZL) (2001-12-21) 21 December 2001 Davide Formolo (ITA) (1992-09-25) 25 September 1992 Fernando Gaviria (COL) (1994-08-19) 19 August 1994 Ryan Gibbons (RSA) (1994-08-13) 13 August 1994 Felix Groß (GER) (1998-09-04) 4 September 1998 Marc Hirschi (SUI) (1998-08-24) 24 August 1998 Álvaro Hodeg (COL) (1996-09-16) 16 September 1996

Rider Date of birth Vegard Stake Laengen (NOR) (1989-02-07) 7 February 1989 Rafał Majka (POL) (1989-09-12) 12 September 1989 Brandon McNulty (USA) (1998-04-02) 2 April 1998 Yousif Mirza (UAE) (1988-10-08) 8 October 1988 Juan Sebastián Molano (COL) (1994-11-04) 4 November 1994 Ivo Oliveira (POR) (1996-09-05) 5 September 1996 Rui Oliveira (POR) (1996-09-05) 5 September 1996 Tadej Pogačar (SLO) (1998-09-21) 21 September 1998 Jan Polanc (SLO) (1992-05-06) 6 May 1992 Maximiliano Richeze (ARG) (1983-03-07)7 March 1983 (aged 38) Marc Soler (ESP) (1993-11-22) 22 November 1993 Joel Suter (SUI) (1998-10-25) 25 October 1998 Matteo Trentin (ITA) (1989-08-02) 2 August 1989 Oliviero Troia (ITA) (1994-09-01) 1 September 1994 Diego Ulissi (ITA) (1989-07-15) 15 July 1989

Major wins

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

National, continental, and world champions

1999

Belgian Road Race, Ludo Dierckxsens

2000

South African Time Trial, Robbie Hunter

Latvian Time Trial, Raivis Belohvoščiks

2001

Latvian Time Trial, Raivis Belohvoščiks

2002

Latvian Time Trial, Raivis Belohvoščiks

Latvian Road Race, Raivis Belohvoščiks

2005

Austrian Road Race, Gerrit Glomser

2006

Italian Time Trial, Marzio Bruseghin

2007

Slovenian Road Race, Tadej Valjavec

2008

World Road Race, Alessandro Ballan

2011

Slovenian Road Race, Grega Bole

Ukrainian Road Race, Oleksandr Kvachuk

Ukrainian Time Trial, Oleksandr Kvachuk

Italian Time Trial, Adriano Malori

2014

Portuguese Time Trial, Nelson Oliveira

Portuguese Road Race, Nelson Oliveira

2015

Portuguese Time Trial, Nelson Oliveira

Ethiopian Road Race, Tsgabu Grmay

Ethiopian Time Trial, Tsgabu Grmay

Portuguese Road Race, Rui Costa

Slovenian Road Race, Luka Pibernik

Taiwanese Road Race, Feng Chun-kai

Taiwanese Time Trial, Feng Chun-kai

2017

UAE Time Trial, Yousif Mirza

UAE Road Race, Yousif Mirza

Slovenian Time Trial, Jan Polanc

European Track (Individual pursuit), Filippo Ganna

2018

World Track (Individual pursuit), Filippo Ganna

UAE Time Trial, Yousif Mirza

UAE Road Race, Yousif Mirza

Norwegian Road Race, Vegard Stake Laengen

2019

UAE Time Trial, Yousif Mirza

UAE Road Race, Yousif Mirza

Slovenian Time Trial, Tadej Pogačar

2020

Slovenian Time Trial, Tadej Pogačar

Portuguese Time Trial, Ivo Oliveira

Portuguese Road Race, Rui Costa

Norwegian Road Race, Sven Erik Bystrøm

European Track (Individual pursuit), Ivo Oliveira

2021

African Time Trial, Ryan Gibbons

UAE Road Race, Yousif Mirza

UAE Time Trial, Yousif Mirza

African Road Race, Ryan Gibbons

South Africa Time Trial, Ryan Gibbons

2022

UAE Road Race, Yousif Mirza

UAE Time Trial, Yousif Mirza

Swiss Time Trial, Joel Suter