UAE Emirates-XRG is filling the void left by the absent Tadej Pogačar by lighting up the Vuelta a España with a wild tactical rampage that’s delivered three consecutive stage wins.
That rare grand tour stage hat-trick is also raising questions of whether it’s every rider for themselves inside the super team’s bus.
But when the sure bet of Pogačar decided to sit out the Vuelta, the world No. 1 opted to race with a very different playbook.
Instead of Pogačar bringing everyone to their collective knees, UAE is improvising, attacking on all fronts, and finding new ways to win even if that means ruffling some feathers along the way.
After delivering Wednesday’s team time trial and Jay Vine running away with Thursday’s stage, it was Juan Ayuso’s turn Friday.
Ayuso blasted to victory a day after he gave up on the GC, while João Almeida is still hanging tough in the overall.
“When you have beautiful dreams, this is the consequence of that,” said UAE sport director Joxean Matxin Fernández. “To win these three stages in a row, especially today with Ayuso after his bad day yesterday, it’s an absolutely perfect day.
“We saw good sensations from João [Almeida], the team was relentless and unstoppable, with a display of quality and talent from Ayuso today.”
What’s not to celebrate?
Filling the Pogačar void
UAE is celebrating its winning streak right now, but Matxin insists UAE is not just here to chase stage wins, even if Jonas Vingegaard and Visma–Lease a Bike have assumed the mantle of GC invincibility.
“We’re going to be in the GC to see how we are,” Matxin said. “It’s always better with those two options [chasing the stage and GC] than just one.”
After Pogačar decided not to race the Vuelta, the team turned to Ayuso and Almeida, both coming in short on confidence and form after mid-season injuries.
Ayuso missed key summer racing after flaming out at the Giro d’Italia, and Almeida’s Tour de France ended in a crash.
The result is a UAE team unsure of its firepower and ability to last across three weeks.
Without the GC guarantee that comes with Pogačar’s sure bet, UAE is striking while the iron is hot.
Ayuso roars back to silence critics
Ayuso roared back into the frame a day after throwing in the towel on GC with a stage win that confounded critics.
After the late call-up to replace Pogačar, the Spanish star insisted that he never came into this Vuelta expecting to fight for the red jersey.
Critics blasted him anyway for giving up so easily on Thursday’s stage to Andorra, saying he threw away a chance to prove his GC value.
Less than 24 hours later, Ayuso attacked with a vengeance at the base of the Cerler climb and crossed the finish line with his fingers in his ears as if to block out the noise in what he called one of the best wins of his career.
“It has been one of my best victories because of how difficult it was,” Ayuso said. “The peloton, especially Visma–Lease a Bike, did not want to let me into the break. So I had to do the first hour of the race alone. I knew that I had to really push hard. With a normal break they were never going to let me go.”
Ayuso said he was racing for pride Friday after his GC collapse in Thursday’s stage.
“It’s a great feeling. The one at the Giro d’Italia was already very special, but this one has even more value. It’s a day that I am never going to forget, and I am very proud of it.”
That hasn’t stopped a wave of critics. Ayuso is often called Spain’s next big thing, and armchair sport directors insist he should have fought deeper for the GC.
Ayuso countered with his second career grand-tour stage win.
Almeida criticizes Vingegaard: ‘He doesn’t really pull’
The team is also nursing along what is now its lone GC card with Portuguese star Almeida, who is still riding into form after crashing out of July’s Tour.
Almeida lit up the first half of 2025, winning the Basque Country Tour, Tour de Romandie, and Tour de Suisse on a trot before misfortune struck in July. Now he’s trying to rediscover that winning rhythm as the Vuelta unfolds.
Victory in the team time trial on Wednesday helped keep him in the GC fight. Two solid outings across the Pyrenees see Almeida emerging alongside Giulio Ciccone (Lidl–Trek) as the most direct challenger to Vingegaard.
On Friday, with Ayuso and Vine up the road in the breakaway, Almeida attacked on the final climb to Cerler, drawing out Vingegaard and Ciccone, but neither wanted to collaborate. Visma’s Sepp Kuss marked the moves, and Matteo Jorgenson then regained contact to drag the GC group back together.
“I asked Marc Soler to pull a bit and try something, but I thought the climb would be harder, to be honest,” Almeida said. “I tried, and maybe it was a gap to somebody, but in the end, no one else really wanted to cooperate.”
Almeida even saved a little barb directed at Vingegaard, who opted not to pile on when Almeida drove a wedge between the others.
“I mean, he didn’t really have to, so I get it, but yeah, it is what it is. I think he doesn’t really pull a lot of times, right?
“I’ve been feeling good every day, so I think it’s a good sign,” Almeida said. “I’m looking forward to the next hard ones.”
UAE finding new ways to win
Matxin celebrated the team’s three straight wins, saying it’s a reflection of how UAE races every day to win, whether Pogačar is in the race or not.
Without Pogačar to impose order, UAE might be looking more like a collection of hired guns than a well-oiled GC unit, but Matxín says that’s by design.
That’s a sharp contrast to the military-like discipline Visma–Lease a Bike is showing so far with Vingegaard.
Visma seems to be holding back. Vingegaard admitted they could have attacked to try to win Friday’s stage, but said they’re saving matches for the second and third week of a Vuelta back-loaded with brutal climbs.
For UAE, the team is filling the Pogačar void by attacking on all fronts.
The question is: how long can it last?