Gall also on board

Pogacar wants to continue his winning streak at the UAE Tour!

Tadej Pogacar

(Bild: AFP)

Superstar Tadej Pogacar and some other aces such as Felix Gall are entering the racing action of the cycling season, which has already been running for a few weeks, with the UAE Tour! Pogacar is completing the seven-day tour in the home country of his team's main sponsor UAE Emirates as a warm-up for the spring classics, starting with the Strade Bianche and Milan-Sanremo. The latter is the only classic besides Paris-Roubaix that he has never won ...

Last year, Pogacar delivered the most successful season of a professional since the 1970s with 25 victories. The Slovenian not only won the Giro d'Italia and the Tour de France, but also several major one-day races and, for the first time, the World Championship title. This year, the 26-year-old has his sights set on the Tour again, skipping the Giro but most likely riding the Vuelta, which is still missing from his long list of victories.

Pogacar aims for third victory in "home race" from
He has competed in the UAE Tour twice so far (2021, 2022) - and also won it. "I'm really excited and motivated to start the season. Fortunately, my preparation for this first part of the season has gone pretty smoothly. I feel good and I'm ready to go," said Pogacar. His objective is clear. "It's important that we really do everything we can to win the title at our home race."

Gall has been waiting for a victory since his Tour de France stage win in 2023, and last year things did not go according to plan for the East Tyrolean, including at the Tour of France. He wants to make another attempt at the Tour in July, before that he has only planned three more appearances in one-week tours (Paris-Nice, Tour of the Alps, Criterium Dauphine).

Gall ready for the season opener
The UAE Tour is new territory for him, but the 26-year-old feels ready after thousands of kilometers of training. "I like the heat and there are two mountain finishes to test my legs. I feel really good, but my level is difficult to assess after such a long preparation phase," said Gall.

He and some colleagues from his Decathlon team put the finishing touches to their training at altitude in the Sierra Nevada. Rainer Kepplinger will also be at the start. The Upper Austrian from the Bahrain racing team proved his strong early form at the Alula Tour at the end of January, finishing fifth overall.