Rebranded squad unite in Altea ahead of season opener Vuelta CV Feminas
Image 1 of 26
UAE Team ADQ in Altea Spain(Image credit: Manuela Heres)
UAE Team ADQ 2022 Training Camp(Image credit: Manuela Heres)
Safiya Al Sayegh joins UAE Team ADQ at the opening 2022 training camp(Image credit: Manuela Heres)
Riders unite at the UAE Team ADQ 2022 Training Camp(Image credit: Manuela Heres)
Erica Magnaldi riding with UAE Team ADQ at an opening team camp in Altea, Spain(Image credit: Manuela Heres)
Alessia Patuelli of UAE Team ADQ at an opening team camp in Altea, Spain(Image credit: Manuela Heres)
Eugenia Bujak joins UAE Team AQQ in Spain(Image credit: Manuela Heres)
The riders enjoy the sunshine along the coast in Spain(Image credit: Manuela Heres)
UAE Team ADQ in Spain(Image credit: Manuela Heres)
Anna Trevisi joins UAE Team ADQ in Spain for an opening training camp(Image credit: Manuela Heres)
Mavi Garcia joins the group ride training in Altea Spain ahead of the racing season(Image credit: Manuela Heres)
UAE Team ADQ in Spain(Image credit: Manuela Heres)
Sophie Wright aims to go to the Tour de France Femmes in 2022(Image credit: Manuela Heres)
Spanish Champion Mavi Garcia(Image credit: Manuela Heres)
Safiya Al Sayegh joins UAE Team ADQ at an opening team camp in Altea, Spain(Image credit: Manuela Heres)
Sofia Bertizzolo (UAE Team ADQ)(Image credit: Manuela Heres)
Laura Tomasi (UAE Team ADQ)(Image credit: Manuela Heres)
Alessia Patuelli(Image credit: Manuela Heres)
Linda Zanetti(Image credit: Manuela Heres)
Maaike Boogaard(Image credit: Manuela Heres)
Riders unite for the first time ahead of the 2022 season in Spain(Image credit: Manuela Heres)
Spanish Champion Mavi Garcia, Slovenian Champion Eugenia Bujak, and United Arab Emirates Champion Safiya al Sayegh(Image credit: Manuela Heres)
Erica Magnaldi(Image credit: Manuela Heres)
The new kits of UAE Team ADQ(Image credit: Manuela Heres)
UAE Team ADQ(Image credit: Manuela Heres)
UAE Team ADQ(Image credit: Manuela Heres)
The 15 riders of the rebranded UAE Team ADQ, formerly Ale BTC Ljubljana, united on the Mediterranean coast of Spainat a training camp in Altea ahead of the season-opening race Vuelta CV Feminas on Sunday.
"The women's cycling movement is growing strongly and our girls are all very motivated. They know they are part of an important team that represents a state and that can be a viaticum towards great results in the most prestigious races on the women's calendar. This first year of the team's life will be important to get off to a good start with this project, which has an important duration and very clear goals," said the team's General Manager Rubens Bertogliati.
The team has kept on nine riders, including top-ranked Spaniard Mavi Garcia and former World Champion Marta Bastianelli.
"For all of us it is a very important project and together we are growing a lot and all the girls are very motivated. I have a lot of expectations for the new year on a personal level and I want to try to improve further and achieve important results," said Garcia.
Bastianelli aims to, once again, be a contender for the major Spring Classics. "A new experience that comes at the right time to try to end my career in the best way. My goals are the classics, I will try to be competitive at Amstel or Roubaix and then I would like to support the team."
New signings include two Italians, Erica Magnaldi and Sofia Bertizzolo, and the first woman from the UAE to join the WorldTour, Safiya Al Sayegh, along with Swiss rider Linda Zanetti and Russia's Maria Novoloskaia and Alena Ivanchenko, the 2021 junior time trial World Champion.
"I'm really excited about this new opportunity and I can't wait to start racing. I found in this team a good group and a very good organization. Personally, in the race, I will have a different role than in the past and I will be joined by another very strong climber as Mavi Garcia and I hope I can help her to aspire to top-level results and sometimes I try to take some personal satisfaction. For me the first big appointments will be the Ardennes classics and then the two Grand Tours," said Magnaldi.
Get The Leadout Newsletter
The latest race content, interviews, features, reviews and expert buying guides, direct to your inbox!
The 2022 jersey is a cross-body fade from blue to orange, which the team says was "inspired by the marvelous and breathtaking emirati sunsets".
A recent team press release highlights Melissa Moncada as the head of the team, while former Swiss pro Bertogliati is the team's general manager, Fortunato Lacquaniti was named as sport manager with Giuseppe Lanzoni, Michele Devoti and Gorazd Penko as directeurs sportif.
Kirsten Frattini is the Deputy Editor of Cyclingnews, overseeing the global racing content plan.
Kirsten has a background in Kinesiology and Health Science. She has been involved in cycling from the community and grassroots level to professional cycling's biggest races, reporting on the WorldTour, Spring Classics, Tours de France, World Championships and Olympic Games.
She began her sports journalism career with Cyclingnews as a North American Correspondent in 2006. In 2018, Kirsten became Women's Editor – overseeing the content strategy, race coverage and growth of women's professional cycling – before becoming Deputy Editor in 2023.
