UAE Team Emirates has announced that Fabio Aru, Fernando Gaviria, and Tadej Pogacar will all race next year’s Tour de France.
The Slovenian rode to three stage victories and third overall at the 2019 Vuelta a Espana, his first Grand Tour during his first season at the WorldTour level.
“With the team, we designed two programmes – one for the Giro and one for the Tour – and we decided that, from all points of view, the Tour was the best idea,” Pogacar said.
“The Giro programme is more stressful. If I want to do well in the UAE Tour [in February], I don’t have so much time to prepare for the Giro. If I do the Tour, there’s more time and it’s less stressful.”
Pogacar will start 2020 season at the Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana before riding the UAE Tour and then Paris-Nice.
“At the Tour de France we will go with Pogacar, who will race without any pressure, taking the race day by day. Aru will focus more on the GC and Gaviria will have his chances in the sprint.”
Fabio Aru will look to get back on track after a few frustrating seasons marred by health issues, while Gaviria will be returning to the Tour after missing this summer’s race due to injury problems of his own.
UAE will send Alexander Kristoff, Diego Ulissi and Davide Formolo to the Giro d’Italia. Formolo, David de la Cruz, and Jasper Philipsen will race next year’s Vuelta a Espana.
