According to Cycling Weekly, UAE Team Emirates – XRG will line up at the Tour of Britain
for the first time this September, as the 2025 edition of the race takes on
added meaning with the career farewell of Geraint Thomas. The six-day stage
race begins on September 2 in Suffolk and concludes on September 7 in Cardiff,
the hometown of Thomas, who will bring the curtain down on a storied
professional career in front of a Welsh crowd. Organisers have shaped the route
around the INEOS Grenadiers rider’s retirement, making this year’s event one of
the most anticipated editions in recent memory.

Although UAE have never raced the Tour of Britain before,
they arrive this year as the dominant team of the 2025 season. With 68 wins
already to their name, the squad is fresh off a spectacular Tour de France,
where Tadej Pogacar took his fourth overall victory along with four stage wins
and the mountains classification.

They also impressed at the Giro d’Italia, with Isaac Del
Toro finishing second overall after narrowly missing out on the Maglia Rosa on
the penultimate stage to Simon Yates. “We’re not done yet,” the team said
recently, and their presence in Britain could signal yet more victories on the
horizon.

However, Pogacar is not expected to take part. Initially
scheduled to race the Vuelta a España, he pulled out earlier this week due to
fatigue and will instead return for the GPs de Québec and Montréal in Canada
before targeting another rainbow jersey (or two) at the World Championships.
UAE have yet to confirm their lineup for Britain, and neither have any of the
other major squads beyond the announcement of Thomas.

Eight other WorldTour teams will join UAE at the start line
in Suffolk: Team Visma | Lease a Bike, Groupama-FDJ, Bahrain Victorious, INEOS
Grenadiers, Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale, Soudal – Quick-Step, Lidl-Trek, and Team
Picnic PostNL. Groupama-FDJ, like UAE, will be making their first appearance at
the Tour of Britain. The French team, however, have had a much less successful year
than UAE, and have now gone 6 years without a Tour de France stage win.

With the race serving as a potential tune-up for the Worlds,
more big names could be added to the start list. Last year Remco Evenepoel was
present, and Wout van Aert may want more of the success he enjoyed in the UK in
2021 and 2023.

As it stands, Thomas remains the only confirmed rider. But
with the race finishing in Cardiff and the World Championships looming,
expectations for the final start list are high.