UAE reveal Pogacar-less Il Lombardia line-up in bid for sixth consecutive victory

UAE Team Emirates-XRG have confirmed their line-up for the 2026 edition of Il Lombardia, with Isaac del Toro and world champion Brandon McNulty set to lead the squad. 

The Emirati team are hunting for their sixth consecutive victory in Lombardy, after Tadej Pogačar won the previous five editions. 

Despite Pogačar being ruled out due to his season-ending crash at the Vuelta a España in August, UAE still hold plenty of ambition to defend their crown, with Del Toro among the star power. 

The Mexican Champion finished fifth in last year’s edition after helping to set up Pogačar’s race-winning attack. Del Toro also has a strong track record of racing in Italy, with 11 of his 33 professional victories coming in Italian races. 

Racing alongside Del Toro will be world champion McNulty, who is set for his first Monument in the rainbow jersey. 

McNulty last raced Il Lombardia back in 2021, but he will arrive on Saturday after a strong start to life as world champion, which includes a second-place finish at the Coppa Agostoni. 

Adam Yates, who finished third back in 2021, also features for his 11th participation, while Jan Christen, Felix Großschartner, Domen Novak and Pavel Sivakov round out a strong UAE Team. 

“We go into Lombardia as defending champions and we’ll have a clear goal to keep that title. The team is very strong and we have many options for victory,” Del Toro said in an official team statement.

“Obviously Brandon [McNulty] is flying in the rainbows at the moment and personally I’m in good form also. The key will be to have numbers as deep into the race as possible and then play our cards on the road,” he added. 

UAE will face stiff competition from the likes of European Champion Remco Evenepoel (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe), Giulio Ciccone (Lidl-Trek), Paul Seixas (Decathlon CMA CGM), Tom Pidcock (Pinarello-Q36.5) as well as many others with the final Monument of the season up for grabs.