UAE Team Emirates-XRG Finish Vuelta A España With Seven Wins And Almeida Second Overall

McNulty & Pogačar deliver stunning 1-2 for UAE Team Emirates-XRG at GP Montr�al
Isaac del Toro scores brilliant victory at the Trofeo Matteotti

News | Team - 14th September 2025

Bringing the curtain down on a great three weeks for the team at La Vuelta a España, João Almeida produced a great ride on stage 20 and ended the race alongside his teammates on Sunday. In doing so, the Portuguese rider claimed second overall in the general classification, marking his best Grand Tour result to date.

The Emirati squad was bested only by Jonas Vingegaard of Visma-Lease a Bike, who confirmed his overall victory with a stage win atop Bola del Mundo on the penultimate day. Enjoying the best season of his career to date, Almeida raised his game to consistently challenge the two-time Tour de France champion across all three weeks.

For Almeida, the most memorable moment of La Vuelta was certainly his stage victory on the iconic Alto de l'Angliru, where the 27-year-old got the better of Vingegaard in a day-long battle for supremacy. With his performances in the high mountains, Almeida showed himself as the only contender to Vingegaard, and ensured he would finish as the runner-up in Madrid.

As for the Emirati squad, each and every rider delivered across the three weeks, from the Gran Salida in Turin, to the French Pyrenees, Andorra and finally, Spain. Their efforts delivered seven stage victories for UAE Team Emirates-XRG, the most of any team in a single edition of La Vuelta this century.

There were wins for Jay Vine and Juan Ayuso, who claimed two apiece, the aforementioned Almeida, and their Spanish teammate Marc Soler. Perhaps the sweetest victory of the seven, however, came in the stage 5 team time trial, with Ivo Oliveira, Domen Novak, Felix Großschartner and Mikkel Bjerg proving instrumental to taking the day's honours.

Along the way, Vine used his two stage wins and several breakaway exploits to rack up points in the King of the Mountains classification, which he wins for the second time in as many years. Both he and Almeida were joined on the Vuelta podium in Madrid by their teammates, with UAE Team Emirates-XRG winning the team classification by over 20 minutes to Visma-Lease a Bike.

Throughout the last week, the whole squad pulled together once more to try and lift Almeida onto the top step of the podium. Although it was not to be, the spirit in which all eight riders attacked stage 20 to Bola del Mundo was commendable.

Almeida finishes La Vuelta a little over a minute down on the race-winning time of Vingegaard, which is the closest that any rider has got to the Dane in his three Grand Tour wins to date. With victories in the Itzulia Basque Country, the Tour de Romandie, and the Tour de Suisse preceding his Vuelta runner-up spot, the 27-year-old looks well set to contest for the biggest honours in the years to come.

Almeida: “We can be proud of our race. We leave the Vuelta with a lot of success and we did what we could. It was a weird Vuelta, because the decisive stages that we expected to decide the race, did not end up being too decisive.

“The day with the most time gaps was in theory, on the easiest climb on stage 9. We just made it really hard and the time gaps were super big, so it shows that it is the riders who make the race hard, not the parcours.

“But I think we can be really proud of the last three weeks, it was a really hard Vuelta.

Vuelta a España final general classification after stage 21

1. Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) 75:53:57

2. João Almeida (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) +1:16

3. Tom Pidcock (Q36.5 Pro Cycling) +3:11

In a commanding performance at the Grand Prix Cycliste de Montr�al, Brandon McNulty cruised to victory alongside teammate Tadej Pogačar, securing a memorable 1-2 finish for UAE Team Emirates-XRG.

The duo broke away from the field with two laps to go in the 209.1 km race featuring 17 laps of the challenging Parc du Mont-Royal circuit. The route tested riders across multiple climbs per lap, including the steep C�te Camillien-Houde, Polytechnique, and a final ascent before the finishing drag on Avenue du Parc.

From early on, UAE Team Emirates-XRG imposed a high tempo in the peloton with Nils Politt, steadily eroding the breakaway and keeping the pressure on for the first three hours of racing. As the race approached its climax, McNulty made a well-timed move on one of the final laps. Shortly after, Pogačar bridged across to join him. Together the pair pushed clear, working in concert to build a decisive gap. In the final kilometre, Pogačar graciously allowed McNulty the honour of taking the win, completing one of the most impressive displays of teamwork this season.

Brandon McNulty: “When you go one-two with a teammate, but when he's World Champion and obviously the best guy in the world, it's super special. That's one of the most memorable days of my career so far.

We made this move on the climb, and then it ended up a group of four, and then Tadej went [on the attack]. Then I was able to come across, and he waited for me, and he was kind enough to give me the win. So in the final, he decided to give it [the win] to me. So I'm really thankful for that. It was a super fun day.”

With today's result, UAE Team Emirates-XRG has now joined the all-time win record of 85 wins in a season.

Tadej Pogačar: “It's been a really successful season for the team. A lot of riders have opportunities and when they get them they take them. Almost all our riders have won something this year and its a testament to how hard they work. Everybody puts in so much effort and we are just thrilled to have so many wins this year.”

GP Montr�al results

1. Brandon McNulty (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) 5h 14′ 04″

2. Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) s.t.

3. Quinn Simmons (Lidl-Trek) +1′ 03

Isaac del Toro continued his remarkable campaign with an unlikely victory at the Trofeo Matteotti. Part of an elite group that got swamped by the peloton in the finale, the Mexican refused to cede his ambitions, winning the race from what turned into a bunch sprint.

In doing so, the 21-year-old moves UAE Team Emirates-XRG to 84 wins for the 2025 season, placing the Emirati squad just one victory behind the all-time season record of Team Columbia-HTC (2009). Del Toro himself has now claimed 13 wins this season alone, with the young puncheur-cum-climber enjoying a spectacular second year as a professional.

The Mexican has won four races in a week in Italy, with Trofeo Matteotti just the latest in a line of successes. His latest win came amongst elite company, with former world champion Rui Costa (EF Education-EasyPost) taking second across the line.

Reflecting on another win, Del Toro was quick to pile the praise on his teammates, who have helped him to four wins in just seven days.

Del Toro: “We had a strong group in the front but when we were caught I knew the victory would be harder.

“In the final kilometres, I knew I had good legs, and when the sprint opened up, I just gave it everything. Winning Trofeo Matteotti this way is really special. It's a historic race, and to take the win in a sprint makes it even more satisfying.

“The team was incredible today - absolutely crucial. I've had their trust and I'm happy to repay them like this. I'm heading into the World Championships feeling strong and confident. I'm really motivated for what's coming.”

Trofeo Matteotti 2025 results

1. Isaac del Toro (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) 4:29:03

2. Rui Costa (EF Education-EasyPost) s.t

3. Pau Miquel (Equipo Kern Pharma) s.t

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