Injury troubles force UAE to delay decision on Pogacar’s Tour de France support squad until final moment

Sports director Andrej Hauptman said the team expects to arrive at the Tour with its strongest possible squad, but admitted that several recovery processes still need to be followed before the final selection can be made.

“This season is demanding, but I believe we will arrive at the Tour with the strongest team,” Hauptman told RTV SLO. “We still have to wait and see how the recovery of some riders progresses, and we will wait until the last moment to choose those who are truly best prepared.”

UAE’s problems were underlined during the Giro d’Italia, where the team lost several key riders early in the race. Adam Yates, Marc Soler and Jay Vine were all injured, ending any realistic hopes of a high general classification result for the team.

“After that second stage, the dreams of a high overall placing disappeared,” Hauptman said. “All three riders who could have been high in the general classification were injured, and I hope they recover quickly because we will really need them later in the season.”

Despite the setbacks, UAE still came away from the Giro with four stage wins from five remaining riders. Jonathan Narváez also spent much of the race in contention for the points classification before his own race ended after a crash.

“In the end we also lost Narváez, who had to abandon after hitting a bus, when he was still in contention for the ciclamino jersey,” Hauptman said. “I think that, given all the drama that happened to us, we have to be quite satisfied.”

The injuries leave UAE with several decisions to make before the Tour, where Pogačar will chase a fifth overall victory.

Hauptman suggested that the depth of the squad means some riders who would normally deserve a place will still miss out.

“We are the best team in the world, and there will be quite a few riders who, in their own way, would deserve to go to the Tour, but will stay at home,” he said.

Pogačar himself is currently training at altitude in Sierra Nevada before returning to racing at the Tour de Suisse from 17 to 21 June. The race will act as a final test before the Tour, giving UAE a clearer idea of where their leader and support riders stand.

“It will be a very important indicator of whether we have done the preparations well,” Hauptman said. “And whether perhaps in the final week before the race we can still change something or fine tune some details.”

The Slovenian will again face Visma | Lease a Bike's Jonas Vingegaard, who impressed at the Giro d’Italia by winning the race and showing strong form in the mountains. Hauptman said UAE followed the Dane closely, but stressed that the team’s main focus remains internal.

“Of course we followed him, but on the other hand we are mainly focused on ourselves,” he said. “We know what we have to do to arrive at the Tour as well prepared as possible. As for Jonas, we already knew he was a top level rider, and I personally had no doubt that he would be back at the highest level.”

The 2026 Tour de France starts in Barcelona on 4 July with a team time trial, a stage Hauptman believes could immediately shape the race.

“The first stage, the team time trial, and we will immediately have to go full gas,” he said. “Every stage in a three week race can be decisive, and if you underestimate one, it can punish you.”

Pogačar won the past two editions of the Tour by comfortable margins, finishing 6:17 ahead of Vingegaard in 2024 and 4:24 clear in 2025. Hauptman, however, warned against reading too much into those gaps.

“We all know very well that it will again be very, very difficult,” he said. “The Tour de France is the biggest race in the world, and again this year the best riders will arrive there in top condition.”