Once in a lifetime: Kevin Vermaerke on UAE move and making history with Tadej Pogacar

When the opportunity arose last summer, Kevin Vermaerke didn’t need to think very long about it. Joining the biggest team in the sport is often something of a calculated risk, but the Californian had no hesitation when UAE Team Emirates-XRG came calling. 

“It was definitely a no-brainer for me,” Vermaerke tells Domestique. “When I first started looking for teams, UAE was quite high on my list and then when they showed similar interest in me, that was kind of a confirmation of the gut feeling that I had.”

The transfer caught some observers by surprise, and there was never any need for Vermaerke to ask himself how did he get here: the upside for UAE was obvious. A pro since 2021, Vermaerke had impressed across a range of terrains in his five years with DSM – later Picnic-PostNL – and so UAE were adding a reliable, versatile rider with demonstrable experience to an already deep roster.

It would have been understandable, however, if that very depth had led to some doubts for Vermaerke. At Picnic-PostNL, he was essentially guaranteed a Grand Tour slot every year and increasing opportunities to race for himself. At UAE, the opportunities to shine risked being fewer and further between. Then again, moving out of the comfort zone was part of the appeal. Vermaerke signed on the dotted line.

“It’s definitely not the team to go to if you want to just be assured of a leadership role or a certain race schedule,” he says. “You’ve really got to kind of fight for your spot because the level is so high. But that’s something I kind of prioritised just because I knew it would really push me to up my game even more. That’s the atmosphere I wanted, and it’s been a breath of fresh air.”

Vermaerke had been able to sound out figures like João Almeida, a former teammate at Axeon, and Brandon McNulty, who came through the same LUX development squad in the United States, but he quickly formed his own impressions when he first linked up with UAE last winter. 

After riding for a team that had consistently flirted with WorldTour relegation, Vermaerke detected an immediate difference at UAE – the expectations were considerably higher and yet the pressure was somehow lower.

“The biggest change for me is that it’s been such a competitive environment, but at the same time it’s not crazy stressful,” he says. “Because the level is so high, people kind of trust each other to do the best that they can. In a lot of ways, I’d say it’s actually more relaxed than people expect.

“Everyone knows that they have to deliver, but there’s not unwanted stress, which a lot of times can just lead to negative outcomes. On a smaller team, if you’re really worried about budget or UCI points, you can really kind of stress about the little things that maybe don’t matter as much.”

At the UAE media day in Benidorm last December, Vermaerke acknowledged that he might need to take a step back before progressing at his new team. He had raced a Grand Tour in each of his preceding four seasons at DSM, but there was no guarantee of a three-week race on his 2026 programme.

“I kind of had the idea that I wouldn’t do a Grand Tour, and I think I would have been fine with that,” says Vermaerke. “At the beginning of the year, my goal was to use the resources of the team and explore some new, smaller races, try to get my first pro win, and take a personal step up.”

Despite a couple of near misses on the Tour of Austria, that first pro victory hasn’t quite materialised, but Vermaerke’s progress has been palpable across a heavy racing programme. He started his campaign at the AlUla Tour in February and saw duty on behalf of Isaac del Toro at the UAE Tour, Tirreno-Adriatico and the Dauphiné, while also riding in support of Tadej Pogačar at the Tour de Romandie. In between, the 25-year-old had a touch more freedom in races like O Gran Camiño and Austria.

“Instead of having one or two big peaks, the team and I had the idea of kind of being between 90 to 95% consistently throughout the whole season,” Vermaerke says of his 56 race days and counting thus far. “I think that’s something that’s kind of helped me. It’s been a big year, but a year where I’ve learned a lot.

“I went from never having been on a team that had won a WorldTour race to this year, where I’ve been part of the team that won UAE Tour, Strade Bianche, Tirreno, the Dauphiné and Romandie.”

Now Vermaerke will hope to be part of a Grand Tour-winning team at the Vuelta a España, where he forms part of the supporting cast around Tadej Pogačar, who threw his hat into the ring after landing a record-equalling fifth Tour de France last month. The Vuelta wasn’t initially on Vermaerke’s programme, but some injuries on the squad and his own performances this summer at the Dauphiné and Tour of Austria saw him make the cut. 

Vermaerke joins men like João Almeida, Jay Vine, Pavel Sivakov and Pablo Torres in Pogačar’s guard at the Vuelta. Getting the nod for the job is both a seal of approval for his work so far and an audition for the years to come.

“Almost any roster that the team would put together for a Grand Tour could be a Tour de France-level team,” Vermaerke says. “I’ve been conscious that with each race, you kind of establish yourself a bit more and prove that the team can trust you, so I think the Vuelta will definitely be a test run ahead of next year and especially for racing with Tadej. 

“I’d really like to do the Tour with him at some point, and I think if I can really prove how reliable I can be over the next three weeks, then that’s definitely going to be something that the team will take notice of.”

Vermaerke has already had some experience in the service of Pogačar this season, at Strade Bianche and the Tour de Romandie. Like everybody in cycling, Vermaerke was well familiar with the public persona beforehand, but the private figure was a new discovery. He needn’t have worried. Pogačar is routinely compared with men like Merckx and Hinault for his iron will on the bike, but off it, his gentle treatment of domestiques appears to be more in the register of Induráin.

“Tadej’s calmness just gives you the extra strength to do your job even more,” Vermaerke says. “Romandie was a good example because I was sick for a week before the race and I didn’t ride the bike. If I had gone to that race with any other team, it would have just been a case of getting around and suffering through it. But knowing I was riding with him allowed me to get so much more out of myself. 

“Obviously he has the level to just back it up, but I think he just has a very calm energy in how he goes about things, everybody around him feeds off that. And then he also just knows how to give a little word of encouragement here or there, especially after a race. 

“I’ve been on some teams in previous years where we weren’t even riding for the win, but maybe just to protect a top 10 on GC or something. You sacrifice a race for a team leader and there’s not too much thanks given out afterwards, so you kind of feel like, ‘Man, I sacrificed my race.’ But with Tadej, when he wins the race, he makes everybody feel like they played a part in it, from the mechanics to the soigneurs to his teammates. 

“That’s one of his superpowers, how motivating he can be. He really makes you feel like you’re contributing to his success, and I think that’s something really special.”

In some ways, Pogačar poses a paradox for his domestiques: how do you help a rider who has no apparent weaknesses? But that strength comes with its own drawbacks, of course. 

If, as so many expect, Pogačar strikes early on stage 4 to Andorra, the weight of controlling the Vuelta is likely to fall on UAE’s shoulders, and they might not find too many willing allies. Whatever way you break it down, Vermaerke and company are in for a serious shift over the next three weeks.

“At the Tour, a team might ride to keep a top 15 or even a top 20 on GC, whereas the Vuelta can be a bit less predictable because guys are willing to risk bigger losses to get a stage win,” Vermaerke says. 

“Last year was my first Vuelta, but the racing is just way more unpredictable, and it can be a lot more explosive, so we’ll have to be ready for that. That’s going to be a change for me, because last year, I was the one animating the breakaways and now this year I’ll be trying to be the one controlling them.”

Like at every other race on the calendar, Pogačar is the overwhelming favourite to win this Vuelta, and the route is almost an irrelevance to the rider of his dextrous gifts. The expectation is that he will impose himself on the race in an opening week that includes a tough early detour into Andorra and summit finishes at Valdelinares and the Alto de Aitana. 

“People assume, ‘Oh, Tadej is going to the Vuelta so it’s an easy win,’ but it’s never easy to win a three-week race and it’s so unpredictable over 21 stages,” Vermaerke insists. “And especially now with how dominant Tadej has been, other teams will look for unconventional ways to try to win the race.”

One imagines that Pogačar has the tools to cope with all eventualities from Monaco to Granada, mind, including the depth of his UAE squad. Vermaerke’s chief personal goal for the Vuelta is maintaining his level across the three weeks, but the overriding motivation comes from the sense that racing in the service of Pogačar is playing an active role in making history.

“That definitely factors in,” Vermaerke says. “In 30 years, on the couch with my grandkids, just being able to say that I raced with Tadej will be special. Only a very select few have done a Grand Tour with him, and that’s something that I don’t take lightly. It gives me a lot of pride.

“There is a level of stress and nerves that you get that maybe you wouldn’t get otherwise when you go to a Grand Tour with Tadej, but I’m conscious of that and I won’t just let it slip by. I’ll really take a minute to enjoy it, because it is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”