Mauro Gianetti, Team Principal and CEO of UAE Team Emirates, saw the spark in Tadej Pogacar on the very first day the former road cyclist met the Slovenian rider. Gianetti’s first interaction with Pogacar also reminded him of his first meeting with a legendary compatriot.
“The first time I met Tadej Pogacar, I had exactly the same feeling I had when I first met Roger Federer,” Gianetti recalled after Pogacar’s historic Tour de France triumph on Sunday.
“Federer was 18 years old then, a promising young player. It wasn’t because I watched him play—I’m not a tennis expert—but because of his personality, the aura around him, the incredible energy he gave off. It really struck me.
“I felt exactly the same when I met Tadej for the first time. I didn’t know how far he would go, but I knew he would go very, very far.”
Gianetti’s decision to bring Pogacar to UAE Team Emirates turned out to be a masterstroke as the 27-year-old became the youngest rider in history to win five Tour de France titles on Sunday.
The 21-day race, covering a distance of 3,500 kilometres, remains the biggest test of athletic endurance in all of sports.
Pogacar has now conquered this peak five times (2020, 2021, 2024, 2025, and 2026), an incredible feat achieved by only four other riders — Jacques Anquetil, Eddy Merckx, Bernard Hinault and Miguel Indurain.
Apart from Pogacar’s wonderful talent and fighting spirit, Gianetti credited the team environment for the resounding success as Mexican youngster Isaac Del Toro also earned a podium place for the UAE-based squad with a third-place finish.
“You know, this was a special Tour, wasn’t it? Because of the great maturity Tadej Pogacar showed this year, the friendship between him and Isaac Del Toro, and really the whole team. The day Tim Wellens stopped to wait for Adam Yates, for me, that was something truly touching,” Gianetti said, referring to the 17th stage when Wellens dropped back to support teammate Yates, who was struggling with a stomach illness.
“Seeing all the riders every morning on the bus, motivating each other, focusing, wanting to give everything, finding joy in suffering together,” Gianetti added.
“Cycling is an extraordinary sport because only one rider wins, yet an entire team works so that someone else can win. Every one of the roughly 150 people in the organisation—staff and riders alike—has their own dream. In the end, they place that dream in Tadej’s hands.”
Gianetti says that level of sacrifice and team spirit can inspire anyone from all walks of life, not just athletes.
“That’s what cycling is. It’s an example for everyone—for other sports and even for society,” he said.
“We all work together toward one goal, and if we can’t achieve it ourselves, we do it for someone else. What I see every morning in this team makes me incredibly, incredibly proud.”
Pogacar’s first Tour de France triumph came on the back of an extraordinary performance in the penultimate stage in 2020, just one year after joining UAE Team Emirates.
“For me, the first one will always be the most beautiful because it happened in such a spectacular way,” Gianetti said.
Since then, Pogacar has gone from strength to strength, with the support of UAE Team Emirates’ coaches, mechanics and teammates playing a massive role in cementing his place among the greatest riders of all time.
“This year, beyond the overall result and the stage victories, what stands out is the image of friendship, support among our riders, the unity of the team and everyone’s desire to work together,” Gianetti said.
“That image goes beyond winning stages.”
Pogacar, who won five stages this year, took his overall tally of stage wins to 26, with only Mark Cavendish (35), Merckx (34) and Hinault (28) ahead of him on the all-time list.
“Every victory is really special, and seven Tours already and seven times on the podium, with five wins, it is something that you wouldn’t even write in a storybook. It is just unbelievable for me,” a jubilant Pogacar said.
The Slovenian, who reminded Gianetti of his first encounter with Federer, has now gone farther than anyone could have imagined.
Source: Khaleej Times