{"id":223657,"date":"2025-10-24T23:41:11","date_gmt":"2025-10-24T23:41:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/223657\/"},"modified":"2025-10-24T23:41:11","modified_gmt":"2025-10-24T23:41:11","slug":"unsung-uae-hero-emotionally-reflects-before-six-year-spell-ends-with-jayco-alula-move","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/223657\/","title":{"rendered":"Unsung UAE hero emotionally reflects before six-year spell ends with Jayco AlUla move"},"content":{"rendered":"


\nFarewell to a family<\/p>\n

Covi\u2019s final race in UAE colours came at the 2025 Veneto Classic, after which he allowed himself a moment to reflect \u2014 and even, he admitted, to get emotional. \u201cI enjoyed every single race in the last month and a half,\u201d he said. \u201cThere was always someone to say goodbye to \u2014 a teammate or staff member I might never see again. The racing itself doesn\u2019t change, we\u2019ll still meet in the peloton, but something truly beautiful has ended.\u201d<\/p>\n

After contributing two victories this year \u2014 including a stage at the Vuelta Asturias \u2014 and playing a key supporting role in Isaac Del Toro<\/a>\u2019s breakout season, Covi moves on with a deep sense of gratitude. \u201cMore than the racing, it\u2019s the time spent together off the bike that makes it special,\u201d he explained. \u201cThose forty-eight hours around a race are what you remember most \u2014 they\u2019re what build the strongest bonds.\u201d\"1059800177\"\/<\/p>\n

Covi’s biggest win for UAE came at the 2022 Giro d’Italia<\/p>\n

Witness to history<\/p>\n

Leaving UAE means stepping away from cycling\u2019s most dominant team of recent years. For Covi, that success was no accident. \u201cIt was amazing to be part of the transformation that made us the best team in the world,\u201d he said. \u201cAt the start of the year, none of us thought we could reach 96 victories \u2014 and yet we did. From the inside, it was fascinating to experience what a truly winning mentality looks like.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pogacar and Del Toro, Covi says, share that mentality \u2014 along with a sense of perspective often lost in professional sport. \u201cThey both live without pressure, in a normal way,\u201d he said. \u201cPogacar is probably the number one in history, yet he\u2019s carefree and light-hearted. And in Del Toro, I see a similar talent \u2014 even if right now, Tadej is still a step above.\u201d<\/p>\n

A new beginning<\/p>\n

After years spent helping others win, Covi hopes Jayco AlUla will give him the space to chase his own ambitions. \u201cI\u2019ll take everything I\u2019ve learned to the new team,\u201d he said. \u201cI want to use that experience to help them, but also to grow personally. At 27, it\u2019s the right time.\u201d<\/p>\n

For the \u201cPuma of Taino\u201d, it\u2019s the end of a defining era \u2014 one that began back in 2018 when he first joined the UAE setup as a young stagiaire. \u201cI was a Lampre fan as a kid,\u201d he smiled. \u201cTo walk into that team and be surrounded by riders like Rui Costa, Kristoff, Ulissi, Gaviria and Aru\u2026 it was almost intimidating. I didn\u2019t even know where to sit at dinner.\u201d<\/p>\n

Six years on, Covi departs not as the shy newcomer, but as one of the trusted engines behind UAE\u2019s dominance \u2014 a rider respected by teammates and remembered by fans who know the sport\u2019s deeper stories. And if Pogacar\u2019s spontaneous lead-out is any indication, the feeling inside that team was very much mutual.<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Farewell to a family Covi\u2019s final race in UAE colours came at the 2025 Veneto Classic, after…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":223658,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[4985,101,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-223657","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cycling","8":"tag-cycling","9":"tag-sports","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom","12":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/223657","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=223657"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/223657\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/223658"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=223657"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=223657"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=223657"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}