Team behind Tadej: The seven UAE Team Emirates riders supporting Pogacar at Tour de France

When the Tour de France gets underway in Florence on Saturday, the eyes of the cycling world will be on UAE Team Emirates star Tadej Pogacar and his chief rival, the two-time defending champion Jonas Vingegaard of Team Visma Lease A Bike.

Pogacar and Vingegaard, who jostled fiercely over the yellow jersey the past two years, are once again the leading contenders for the general classification title. Pogacar, the champion in 2020 and 2021, saw his title defence fade in 2022 after seeing several of his teammates drop out of the race, while his bid last year was hampered when a broken wrist in the April limited his preparation.

This year, it's Vingegaard who's in a fitness race after the Dane suffered multiple fractures in a fall in March. Given Vingegaard's situation and Pogacar's status as the world's best road cyclist – cemented after another formidable season so far – the Slovenian is the firm favourite to win the GC title.

However, the Tour de France is the most challenging race of the year, and no cyclist can win it alone, even an all-time great like Pogacar. The team around Pogacar will be vital to his hopes of winning his third Tour title, and UAE Team Emirates have assembled a strong line-up to give the Slovenian the best chance possible.

Ahead of Saturday's Grand Depart, here are the seven riders ready to give their all to support Pogacar over the next three weeks.

The experienced Briton comes into the Tour as Pogacar’s right-hand man in the mountains off the back of an excellent start to 2024. He kickstarted his year with a dominant victory at the Tour of Oman, taking the general classification after storming victory on Stage 5.

Yates, who is in his second season with UAE Team Emirates, then produced one of