UAE reportedly tried to take TotalEnergies’ Barcelona TTT training slot after failing to book its own
Peloton RMC says Pogačar’s team sought to take over TotalEnergies’ reserved Formula 1 circuit slot after failing to secure one of its own.
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UAE Team Emirates-XRG were reportedly left without a training slot on Barcelona’s Formula 1 circuit ahead of Saturday’s Tour de France opening team time trial, before trying to take over the session reserved by TotalEnergies.
The incident was raised on Le Peloton RMC, where presenter Pierre Yves Leroux said that several teams had booked ninety minute sessions to prepare for the team time trial on the circuit.
“I even believe UAE didn’t have a slot and tried to get TotalEnergies’ one,” Leroux said. According to RMC, UAE were told: “No, no, it’s for us, it’s reserved.”
Leroux then described it as a “small mistake” and a “lack of professionalism” from UAE, adding: “We’ll see whether it costs them anything as early as Saturday’s stage.”
For UAE, the incident comes at an awkward moment. Saturday’s team time trial will put the first Maillot jaune of the Tour on the line, with Pogačar among the leading candidates to claim it, and a missed circuit session is not the sort of detail a team chasing yellow wants hanging over its preparation.
It also makes the TotalEnergies angle sharper. The French ProTeam are not just a smaller squad being asked for a favour by the richest operation in the race. They are a team with an uncertain future, after TotalEnergies announced that their title sponsorship agreement will expire at the end of 2026.
In that context, the image of TotalEnergies refusing to give up a reserved circuit slot to UAE is a small but striking reversal of cycling’s usual power dynamics.
The opening stage is a 19.6 kilometre team time trial through Barcelona, starting from Parc del Fòrum and finishing with the climb toward Montjuïc. Under the new rules, however, it will not only be the team result that matters, as individual times will also count toward the general classification.
Caja Rural Seguros RGA are scheduled to open the Tour at 17:05 CEST, with teams setting off at five minute intervals. UAE Team Emirates-XRG, last in the start order, are due to begin their effort at 18:55 CEST.
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