António Morgado returns to defend his Gran Premio Castellón title

UAE Team Emirates-XRG is pleased to announce its lineups for the first races of the 2026 season in Europe, with a seven-man team ready to take on both the Classica Camp de Morvedre and Gran Premio Castellón in Spain.

The Classica Camp de Morvedre will kick off proceedings on Friday, 23 January, before the Gran Premio Castellón takes place the following day on Saturday, 24 January. Both races will see UAE Team Emirates-XRG field a team of five WorldTour riders and two Gen Z talents, led by Sports Director Tomas Gil in the team car.

Making their debuts for UAE Team Emirates-XRG in Spain will be Benoît Cosnefroy and Adrià Pericas, both of whom signed for the team over the winter. Cosnefroy brings years of race-winning experience with him to the Emirati outfit, whilst Pericas makes the step up from the team’s under-23 squad.

Pericas made several appearances for the team as a Gen Z rider last season, but this will be his first outing as a WorldTour athlete. Continuing the team’s tradition of developing the next generation of talent, Cosnefroy and Pericas will be joined in Spain by current Gen Z riders, Ugo Fabries and Jaime Torres.

Fabries last raced for UAE Team Emirates-XRG at the 2025 Giro d’Abruzzo, where he helped his teammate Pablo Torres, the older brother of Jaime, to third overall. The young Pablo was a first-year pro at the time, but comes into 2026 with a season of racing at the top level under his belt.

For Jaime, the Classica Camp de Morvedre will mark his debut for UAE Team Emirates-XRG, after joining the Gen Z ranks at the beginning of the year.

Rounding out the Emirati squad for the pair of one-day races in Spain will be António Morgado, the reigning champion of Gran Premio Castellón, and Marc Soler, both of whom will be making their season debuts.

The full UAE Team Emirates-XRG squad will be as follows:
Benoît Cosnefroy (Fra)
António Morgado (Por)
Adrià Pericas (Spa)
Marc Soler (Spa)
Pablo Torres (Spa)
Ugo Fabries (Fra) (Gen Z)
Jaime Torres (Spa) (Gen Z)

Raced to and from Estivella on Spain’s Costa Blanca, the Classica Camp de Morvedre will be back for its second edition on Friday. Making the step up from a UCI 1.2 race to a 1.1, the race will host UAE Team Emirates-XRG for the first time.

Last year’s inaugural edition was won by a 20km solo effort from Urko Berrade, and the route appears to be even more selective on this occasion.

Just as last year, there will be two ascents of the Alto del Garbí (8.8km at 5.5%) in the final 50km, but the peloton will also tackle this climb earlier in the day to make it three ascents in total.

The final climb will top out with a little under 20km to ride of the 163.7km route.

On Saturday, António Morgado will return to the Gran Premio Castellón with the hopes of defending his title, won from a seven-strong front group in last year’s race. Otherwise known as the Ruta de la Cerámica, this race takes place over 171.9km from Castellón de la Plana to Onda, with 2,455m of elevation gain on the cards.

This year’s route is identical to that of last year, ensuring that the 5km-long Collado de Ayódar climb remains the final decisive feature. Stretching out an average gradient of 4.5%, the climb tops out with just 10km to the line in Onda.

It was on this terrain that Morgado put his opponents on the rivet last season, and laid the groundwork for his successful sprint.