UAE Team Emirates have confirmed Tadej Pogačar as leader for the UAE Tour despite the young Slovenian only recently recovering from COVID-19.
Pogačar won the UAE Tour last year before going on to win his second successive Tour de France in the summer. Victory on home turf is hugely important but the team and Pogačar face serious competition from the likes of Adam Yates (Ineos Grenadiers), Aleksandr Vlasov (Bora-Hansgrohe), Jack Haig (Bahrain Victorious) and Tom Dumoulin (Jumbo-Visma).
Pogačar will have the support of Rafal Majka, new teammates and talented climbers Joao Almeida and George Bennett. Mikkel Bjerg and Maximiliano Richeze will help new signing Pascal Ackermann in the sprints after Fernando Gaviria tested positive a third time for COVID-19 before travelling to the UAE.
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This year's UAE Tour will be held between February 20-26, with four flat stages in the exposed desert, two mountain stages, and a nine-kilometre individual time trial on stage 3. The mountain finish atop Jebel Hafeet on the last stage will crown the overall winner.
"I’m really excited and motivated to start the season. The last few months went almost perfectly. I had a small setback a couple of weeks ago with Covid but luckily it didn’t disrupt my preparation too much and I’m feeling good," Pogačar said when UAE Team Emirates named their seven riders.
"I’m confident to lead the team, but we know how good Joao can be too. We have trained together a lot lately and understand each other well, so if he’s strong enough to win I’m also happy. Rafal Majka is also really flying at the moment. The important thing is we try and defend the title in the home race.
"The most obvious key stages will be the time trial and then the two mountain finishes at Jebel Jais and Jebel Hafeet on the final day. But each day will count, as we saw last year with huge crosswinds from the start of Stage 1. So I think from a spectators’ point of view it will be a really nice race and I can’t wait to start."
Under the UCI's COVID-19 medical protocol, riders who test positive for the virus have to undergo a series of heart and lung tests before they are allowed to race.
Pogačar and his teammates were amongst the first riders to be vaccinated in early 2021 and he reportedly had a second vaccine last summer, according to his coach Inigo San Millán, meaning he is compliant with the new UCI 'Health Pass' which does away with the need for most pre-race tests for most of the 2022 calendar.
"Tadej tested positive for the virus and had mild symptoms," medical director Dr. Adrian Rotunno revealed last week.
"As per guidelines, and in the interest of his health, and the greater community, he underwent the mandatory isolation and recovery period, before resuming light training."
After the UAE Tour, Pogačar is expected to head to Italy to race Strade Bianche and Milan-San Remo either side of Tirreno-Adriatico, before heading to Flanders via Dwars door Vlaanderen.
La Flèche Wallonne and a title defence at Liège-Bastogne-Liège are also on his spring schedule before attention turns to his Tour de France build-up.
