Less than a week after the Tour de France ended, two of the team’s biggest names will be back in action for UAE Team Emirates at the Clasica San Sebastian (August 3).
Both Dan Martin and Rui Costa will lead a team of seven as they take on one of the hilliest one-day races on the UCI WorldTour calendar. With seven categorised climbs along its 227.3km route, the Spanish classic will test the legs of even the most battle-hardened rider.
The team supporting Martin and Costa mixes experience and youth, and includes up and coming Slovenian talent, Tadej Pogacar. After a string of impressive performances, which have included winning the youth classification at the Tour of the Algarve, the Tour of the Basque and the Tour of Slovenia – as well as the yellow winner’s jersey at the Amgen Tour of California – Pogacar will be an outside favourite on this demanding parcours.
Pogacar said: “San Sebastian will be my first race after a training block, I’m coming back to racing feeling confident and ready to test myself against top competition, which we will no doubt be up against.
“I have worked hard over the past weeks, and I’m eager to see if this race will suit me well.”
The team will be guided by sports directors Joxean Matxin and Neil Stephens.
UAE squad: Rui Costa (Portugal), Daniel Martin (Ireland), Juan Sebastian Molano (Colombia), Tadej Pogacar, Jan Polanc (both Slovenia), Aleksandr Riabushenko (Belarus), Rory Sutherland (Australia)
