How does the UAE Team Emirates-XRG train for the season?

The 2026 season has started almost as the previous one ended, with UAE Team Emirates-XRG accumulating victories or being very close to achieving them. They have secured no less than 7 wins in less than a month of competition in another campaign where they will try to reach that barrier of 100 victories that they brushed against last year. This ability to win was forged during the preseason in Alicante.

UAE Team Emirates-XRG has prepared thoroughly to surpass their own record of victories

There is no doubt that, currently, UAE Team Emirates-XRG is a practically unbeatable team in almost any terrain. And we are not only talking about Tadej Pogacar, who dominates wherever he goes, but they are capable of achieving victory with almost any of their cyclists.

A good example is what we have seen so far in the 2026 season, where they have already accumulated 7 victories, with Jay Vine winning the Tour Down Under along with two of the stages, Antonio Morgado taking the Trofeo Calvià at the Challenge of Mallorca, Jan Christen winning the AlUla Tour with an additional stage, and the latest victory obtained in the first sprint of the Tour of Oman by Juan Sebastián Molano.

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Beyond having the best cyclists and resources from World Tour teams thanks to their huge budget, the work done during winter training camps in Alicante is a major contributor to their cyclists' performance. This training method, similar to what happened with Team Sky when the British were the dominant force in cycling in the past decade, is now being emulated by other teams to raise their level.

While the exact data of their cyclists' training is usually kept under wraps, the posts from UAE Team Emirates-XRG cyclists on Strava often provide good clues about the team's training and allow for the establishment of some patterns.

The first of these patterns we already knew: the tremendous importance that UAE Team Emirates-XRG places on endurance work, with numerous rides in zone 2. But also, the relevance of strength, as cyclists not only improve with gym sessions but it is not uncommon to find training that includes strength intervals.

A strength training that is incorporated into the middle of some of the long rides and is worked on with two types of training. On one hand, intervals that alternate strength and high cadence sprints, and on the other hand, the typical constant power series at a level close to FTP that UAE cyclists maintain for durations of up to 10 minutes, truly wild for any recreational cyclist.

Another typical training that is often repeated more or less systematically among UAE cyclists is a classic like the Over Unders, alternative intervals that they also perform in a tremendously demanding way, combining 40 seconds at 115% of FTP with just 20 seconds of something they call recovery, at a hotspot pace, around 85% of FTP. As we say, another good challenge that further toughens the already inhumane 30/30s that many of you have surely practiced at some point in your seasons.

In the typical weeks of winter training camps, there is barely 1 day of rest in the program, active rest, of course, consisting of an hour and a half of easy riding, the typical "coffee ride" of professionals, which, after such demanding weeks, is surely enjoyed with enthusiasm. In any case, these trainings are oriented towards the demands of current cycling, which requires arriving in peak form for any competition, unlike what happened decades ago when the first races of each season were little more than training with a number for most cyclists.