No Almeida at Paris-Nice as UAE Team Emirates-XRG reveal line-up
UAE Team Emirates-XRG have announced their line-up for the 2026 edition of Paris-Nice, with João Almeida not included.
The Portuguese rider had been pencilled in to start his third race of the season after finishing 2nd at the Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana and 3rd at the Volta ao Algarve. Almeida finished 6th at Paris-Nice in 2025 and won a stage along the way.
UAE Team Emirates-XRG's line-up includes Igor Arrieta, Rune Herregodts, Nils Politt, former stage winner Brandon McNulty, Ivo Oliveira, Pavel Sivakov, and 2018 winner Marc Soler.
The team won the GC back in 2023 with Tadej Pogačar and has already scored 13 victories this calendar year.
Almeida is set to target the GC at the Giro d’Italia in May, where he will come up against pre-race favourite Jonas Vingegaard (Visma | Lease a Bike) for the second consecutive Grand Tour after he finished 2nd behind the Dane at the Vuelta a España last August.
Despite the absence of Almeida, there are still plenty of strong names who will battle for the yellow jersey in the Race to the Sun, including Vingegaard, Juan Ayuso (Lidl-Trek) and Oscar Onley (Ineos Grenadiers). The race kicks off in Achères on March 8, and concludes after eight stages in Nice on March 15.
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