Tadej Pogačar is not alone at the top of men’s road cycling. While the Slovenian ruled the Men Elite individual UCI World Ranking for the sixth consecutive year, the stellar support he can count on from his teammates at UAE Team Emirates - XRG also puts them on top of the Team Ranking. The UCI WorldTeam has occupied the top spot at the end of every season since 2023.
The addition of the points accumulated by their top 20 riders in 2026 comes in at 30,982.1 points. That’s over 5,000 points more than the runner-up, Red Bull - Bora - Hansgrohe (25,464.59 points), who climbed a handful of positions in the latter stages of the season and achieved their best collective result thanks notably to Remco Evenepoel’s impressive run in recent weeks.
Team Visma | Lease a Bike (23,129.25 points, led by Jonas Vingegaard and Wout van Aert) and Decathlon CMA CGM (20,663.32 points with Paul Seixas, Felix Gall et al) are the other teams to have amassed more than 20,000 points this season. Lidl - Trek (19,361.68 points) complete the top five of the 2026 UCI World Ranking for teams.
Pogačar’s lieutenants step up
The Men Elite road race of the 2026 UCI Road World Championships was the perfect illustration of UAE Team Emirates - XRG’s ability to shine even without their Slovenian leader. Ahead of the Montreal rainbow battles, Pogačar was the two-time reigning UCI World Champion. However, he couldn’t defend his titles due to injuries sustained in a crash that took him out of La Vuelta Ciclista a España at the end of August. In his place, the USA’s Brandon McNulty rose to the occasion with a remarkable solo performance of his own to retain the rainbow jersey within the squad. His teammate, Mexico’s Isaac del Toro, was fifth.
The American and the Mexican were the third and second best scorers for UAE Team Emirates - XRG in 2026. McNulty amassed 2,710.89 points (including 900 for claiming the rainbow jersey and 250 for his victory at the Veneto Classic in Italy on the final day of the 2026 season). Del Toro, meanwhile, finished the season on 5,606.46 points, placing him third in the individual ranking behind Pogačar and Evenepoel.
Riders like Benoît Cosnefroy, Jan Christen, Florian Vermeersch, Jhonatan Narvaez and Antonio Morgado also ensured a constant and consistent presence at the forefront on all terrain. All in all, 20 UAE Team Emirates - XRG riders won races on the UCI International Calendar in 2026, including maiden professional victories for Julius Johansen, Rui Oliveira and Adria Pericas, while Igor Arrieta took his first Grand Tour stage win at the Giro d’Italia. But the bulk of the team’s winning record came from their leader Pogačar and his close lieutenant Del Toro.
Del Toro rises with Pogačar
The year 2026 marked a new step in the partnership between the Slovenian icon and the Mexican wonderkid as they lined up together – with impressive success – in some of the most prestigious races in the world.
First, Del Toro succeeded Pogačar as the winner of the UAE Tour.
Then, the duo took on Strade Bianche and stood together on the podium in Siena: victory for Pogačar, third place for Del Toro, with Seixas in-between. The rising star also saw his leader finally crack Milano - Sanremo, before an injury at Itzulia Basque Country saw Del Toro miss the rest of the spring.
As summer arrived, Pogačar and Del Toro ruled both the Tour de Suisse and the Tour Auvergne - Rhône-Alpes to gear up for their common assault at the Tour de France. The Grand Départ in Barcelona immediately highlighted their mighty collaboration: on day two, Pogačar opened the door for Del Toro’s maiden stage win in the French Grand Tour. Together, they ruled hills and mountains, tamed their rivals and ultimately dominated the podium in Paris as Pogačar took home the maillot jaune for the fifth time and Del Toro, third overall, won the young riders’ standings.
“I can’t feel more privileged,” Del Toro said as he secured the Tour de France’s white jersey for the sixth time in the team’s history, after Damiano Cunego in 2006, and Pogačar in 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023. How high will he rise alongside his history-making mentor? This year, Del Toro signed a new contract with UAE Team Emirates - XRG until 2031 and Pogačar extended his contract to 2032.