UAE Team Emirates-XRG announced a competitive lineup for the upcoming Canadian WorldTour races and subsequent Italian classics, with Mexican rider Isaac del Toro heading the group as it seeks to maintain its momentum from an already successful season. The squad for the Grand Prix Cycliste de Québec and Grand Prix Cycliste de Montréal consists of del Toro, Adam Yates, Tim Wellens, Jhonatan Narváez, Brandon McNulty, Felix Grossschartner and Florian Vermeersch, according to the team’s statement distributed on social media. Those races, set for September 11 and 13 respectively, will serve as key preparation ahead of the world championships later in the month. A separate group is expected to contest the Italian events that bracket the Canadian trip, the team indicated.
Del Toro, who finished third overall at the 2026 Tour de France, will lead the ambitions in North America as he continues his breakout campaign that has already included a strong showing at the Vuelta a Alemania. Supporting him are proven performers including Yates and Wellens, both of whom have prior victories in similar hilly one-day formats. The team’s depth allows for multiple tactical options across the demanding circuits in Quebec City and on Mount Royal, a UAE Team Emirates-XRG assessment found. McNulty in particular arrives with local knowledge after securing a win in Montreal the previous year with assistance from teammates.
The Canadian races form part of a busy September block that also includes Italian one-day events such as the Coppa Sabatini on September 10, the Memorial Marco Pantani on September 12 and the Trofeo Matteotti on the same day as the Montreal race, CyclingFlash data shows. This schedule highlights the team’s strategy of rotating riders across high-level competitions to maximise opportunities while managing recovery. Several members of the Canadian contingent are also eyeing the UCI Road World Championships scheduled for late September in the same region, adding extra incentive to the trip. The squad’s preparation draws on the group’s extensive experience in similar late-season races.
UAE Team Emirates-XRG, which rebranded in 2025 and competes as a UCI WorldTeam, has secured dozens of victories this year across stage races and classics, Wikipedia entries on the squad record. The team, sponsored by entities including Colnago, Richard Mille and G42, relies on a roster that features multiple Grand Tour winners and monument specialists even in the absence of leader Tadej Pogacar, who is recovering from injuries sustained at the Vuelta. Pogacar has claimed the Giro di Lombardia five times and other major one-day honours for the squad in previous seasons, according to team historical summaries. That pedigree underscores the expectations surrounding the current group of contenders.
Training protocols for the squad have emphasised refined nutrition ratios, heat acclimation and targeted sprint work to optimise performance in the rolling terrain of both the Canadian and Italian events, a Rouleur magazine profile of the team’s methods detailed. Such approaches have contributed to consistent results throughout 2026, with the organisation accumulating early wins at events including the Tour Down Under and AlUla Tour. The focus now shifts to executing those plans on the road, where the team will face stiff competition from squads like Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe and Visma-Lease a Bike that have also named strong rosters. Organisers of the Canadian races have noted the high calibre of participants this year.
Following the North American stop, the Italian classics will offer further chances to test form on familiar roads that often favour the team’s climbing and punchy specialists. Riders not selected for Canada are slated to target those opportunities, maintaining a broad presence across the September calendar, the published schedule indicates. This dual focus reflects the depth UAE Team Emirates-XRG has built in recent years, allowing it to contest multiple fronts simultaneously without compromising competitiveness. Results from these races could also feed into final preparations for the world championships.
