Tadej Pogacar ready to defend UAE Tour title 'with all our might'

UAE Team Emirates star Tadej Pogacar said he was excited to be back "on home soil" as he lined up to defend his UAE Tour title in the opening race of the International Cycling Union (UCI) World Tour season.

The only WorldTour race in the Middle East will be flagged off with a 185-kilometre sprint-stage in Madinat Zayed on Sunday.

“I am very excited to be back in the UAE and start my 2022 season by racing on home soil,” Pogacar, a two-time winner of the Tour de France, said at the launch ceremony on Saturday.

“Firstly, I am happy to be with UAE Team Emirates, one of the fastest developing cycling teams in the world. On every occasion I am here in the UAE, I feel the tangible development of cycling.

“We are ready and trained well for the UAE Tour. We will defend with all our might to preserve the title.”

Pogacar, 23, was runner up behind Adam Yates in the UAE Tour in 2020 and reversed that result in 2021.

“It means a lot to me to have won this race last year, as I’m riding for the UAE team,” the Slovenian said.

“Every year, I see more people cycling here. I’ll try to win the title again. My winter was really good. I went to Sierra Nevada in Spain where I unfortunately got Covid but it was not serious.

From left - Tom Dumoulin, Filippo Ganna, Tadej Pogacar, Mark Cavendish and Dylan Groenewegen ahead of the UAE Tour in Abu Dhabi. AFP

“I just had four days off the bike, so I’m prepared for the first race. We also have Pascal Ackermann for the sprints, Mikkel Bjerg for the TT, and a real composed team for GC with Rafal Majka and George Bennett as well. We’ll try to do our best every day.”

Joao Almeida and Maximiliano Richeze are the other two members of the UAE Team Emirates.

The UAE Tour has drawn 17 of the 18 WorldTour