UAE Team Emirates-XRG are keeping Tadej Pogačar’s Grand Tour engine intact. The squad confirmed contract extensions for six riders on Thursday, the group that forms the backbone of the team’s mountain and support work.
The extensions run at different lengths:
- Vegard Stake Laengen: through 2027
- Felix Grossschartner: through 2028
- Julius Johansen: through 2028
- Domen Novak: through 2029
- Rui Oliveira: through 2029
- Ivo Oliveira: through 2029
Every one of them was already inside the Pogačar setup at Grand Tours this season.
Behind July’s fifth Tour title
Grossschartner was one of the seven riders who drove Pogačar to a record-equalling fifth Tour de France in July, alongside Isaac del Toro, Brandon McNulty, Nils Politt, Florian Vermeersch, Tim Wellens and Adam Yates. The team took six stage wins on the way to Paris and finished with Del Toro third overall in the young rider’s white jersey.
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Twin brothers Rui and Ivo Oliveira have been at the team since 2019, working across the Classics and sprint groups. Laengen, the longest-serving rider on the roster, has been in the squad since it was founded in 2017. Novak joined in 2023 and has become a trusted climber in mountainous terrain.
On top of the leaders’ deals
The six-rider wave lands on top of far longer commitments already logged this month. Pogačar signed a new deal taking him through to the end of 2032, announced on 5 September. Del Toro’s own contract was extended through 2031.
Team principal and CEO Mauro Gianetti spoke about the Pogačar deal at that announcement.
“Tadej has been central to the journey and development of this team, and we are extremely proud that this relationship will continue through 2032,” Gianetti said.
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Pogačar himself remains off the bike after his crash at the Vuelta a España. He sustained a concussion, a C7 cervical fracture and a clavicle fracture, and the team has confirmed he will not race again this season.
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