UAE set to lose Giro Next Gen runner-up Ramírez for 2027

Mateo Ramírez of UAE Team Emirates Gen Z became the first Ecuadorian rider to finish on the podium of the Giro d’Italia Next Gen, the under-23 version of the Italian Grand Tour, on Sunday.

Ramírez finished second overall at the Giro d’Italia Next Gen, 2:10 behind U23 world champion Lorenzo Finn of Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe Rookies, who claimed the maglia rosa.

The result built on Ramírez’s sixth-place finish at the prestigious Tour de l’Avenir in 2025, which was won by Paul Seixas of Decathlon CMA CGM.

Naturally, Ramírez’s performances have attracted plenty of interest. Despite already riding for the development squad of the most successful team in the sport, UAE Team Emirates-XRG, reports indicate that the Ecuadorian could race in entirely different colours next season.

Daniel Benson has reported that Ramírez is highly likely to join Movistar at WorldTour level in 2027, although neither team has made an official announcement.

Ramírez has already secured a podium finish in the elite ranks, having sprinted to third place behind Jhonatan Narváez of UAE Team Emirates-XRG at the 2025 Ecuadorian National Championships.

While the former Ecuadorian champion, who recently won three stages at the Giro, is set to sign a contract extension with the Emirati team, it appears increasingly unlikely that his younger compatriot will join him in the WorldTour squad.

As of 2026, there are five Ecuadorians in the men’s WorldTour peloton: Narváez, Jefferson Alveiro Cepeda of Movistar, Harold Martín López of XDS Astana, and Jefferson Alexander Cepeda and Richard Carapaz of EF Education-EasyPost.

Carapaz made history for Ecuador by winning the Giro in 2019 before becoming Olympic champion in 2021.

Riders who have stepped up from the UAE Team Emirates Gen Z squad to the WorldTour team since its foundation in 2024 include the Spanish duo Adrià Pericas and Pablo Torres. Torres also secured a runner-up finish at the Giro Next Gen while racing for UAE’s development team.