UAE Team Emirates-XRG all set for Il Lombardia and the Tour de Kyushu

Headlined by world champion Brandon McNulty and the Mexican champion Isaac del Toro, UAE Team Emirates-XRG is pleased to present its seven-man lineup for Il Lombardia.

Raced on Saturday, 10 October, Il Lombardia is the final Monument of the season, known as one of cycling’s most prestigious one-day races. Won by the Emirati squad for the last five seasons in a row, the team will return without the injured defending champion Tadej Pogačar, but with plenty of ambition to defend its crown.

Leading the line will be Del Toro, fifth in last year’s edition, and McNulty, recently crowned the UCI World Road Race Champion in Montréal. Behind the pair will be an all-star roster of climbers, more than capable of mastering the tough ascents that link Bergamo to Como in the 238.9km-long race.

Adam Yates, a podium finisher here in 2021, will be on the start line for UAE Team Emirates-XRG, as will his teammates Jan Christen, Felix Großschartner, Domen Novak, and Pavel Sivakov.

From the team car, Sports Directors Andrej Hauptman and Marco Marzano will offer their guidance.

The Emirati team first won Il Lombardia in 2021, with Pogačar going on to win five editions in a row, matching the all-time record of five victories set by the legendary Italian rider, Fausto Coppi. Pogačar’s recent track record will give all of his teammates plenty of motivation heading into the last of cycling’s five great Monuments.

Del Toro: “We go into Lombardia as defending champions and we’ll have a clear goal to keep that title. The team is very strong and we have many options for victory.

“Obviously Brandon is flying in the rainbows at the moment and personally I’m in good form also. The key will be to have numbers as deep into the race as possible and then play our cards on the road.

“We have a good feeling in the group and understand each other well, so it puts us in a strong position from the start. The rest will depend on the rivals.”

Known as the Classica delle Foglie Morte, or the Race of the Falling Leaves, Il Lombardia takes place in autumn each year, with this season’s instalment marking the 120th edition. Following on from Milano-Sanremo, the Tour of Flanders, Paris-Roubaix, and Liège-Bastogne-Liège, the race is one of the major one-day races known as a Monument.

As such, the race has an illustrious list of winners, and regularly draws thousands of spectators to the roadside in the Lombardy region of Italy. We can expect more of the same on Saturday afternoon, with this year’s route taking the peloton from Bergamo to Como, over some of the area’s most demanding climbs.

Naturally, a big feature of the day will be the ascent to Madonna del Ghisallo. The iconic sanctuary sits on a hilltop peering out above Lake Como, and was devoted to cyclists by Pope Pius XII in 1949. A pilgrimage spot for the lycra-clad fraternity, the Madonna del Ghisallo will be a highlight of Saturday’s route, but is far from the final challenge.

Indeed, the 120th Il Lombardia totals a whopping 4,518m of climbing, including the viciously steep Civiglio climb. Standing at 9% for 4km, Civiglio is the penultimate climb of the day, and the tricky, winding descent that follows has previously been used for race-winning attacks by Vincenzo Nibali in both 2015 and 2017.

Once Civiglio and its demanding descent are dealt with, the riders will make a second and final climb to San Fermo della Battaglia. This climb stretches out for 2.9km at 6.6% and will top out with a little under 5km to ride.

From here, the wannabe winners of Il Lombardia will drop down to the banks of Lake Como to the finish line. It is another classic route for the race formerly known as the Giro di Lombardia, and Pogačar’s absence will ensure that a new champion is crowned in Como on Saturday afternoon.

Away from Europe, UAE Team Emirates-XRG will make its debut on Japanese soil this week, with a six-man squad taking to the country’s third-largest island for the Tour de Kyushu.

There, the fourth edition of the three-day race awaits, as well as a fast-paced criterium event on the evening of Friday, 9 October. This criterium takes the form of a 45km-long circuit race in Sasebo City, before stages 1, 2 and 3 of the Tour de Kyushu are held between Saturday, 10 October and Monday, 12 October.

Held exclusively on Japan’s southwesternmost island of Kyushu, the three-day stage race was formed as a testament to the island’s resilience and recovery from devastating natural disasters. The most recent of which was the 2016 Kumamoto earthquake, which brought severe flooding to the north of the island.

Kyushu, after all, is known for its volcanic landscapes and, in particular, Mt. Aso, which is one of the world’s largest active calderas. It is through the hot spring towns and along the tropical coastlines that the fourth edition of the Tour de Kyushu will take place.

UAE Team Emirates-XRG is to make its debut in the race with a squad that combines WorldTour experience and youthful exuberance from the team’s Gen Z ranks.

Bringing the experience will be Ivo Oliveira, Kevin Vermaerke and first-year pro Adrià Pericas, whilst Marcos Freire, Enea Sambinello and Davide Stella complete the squad from the team’s under-23 contingent.

Sport Director Manuele Mori will guide the team on the roads of Kyushu.

Stage starts are to be held in Saga, Oita and Miyazaki, with stage finishes to be placed in Fukuoka, Kumamoto, and Miyazaki, respectively.

Stage 2 between Oita and Kumamoto is set to be the toughest day of racing, with 2,368m of climbing draped across just 127.8km. It promises an exciting debut for the Emirati squad in Japan, with it all kicking off on Friday with the Sasebo City criterium.