'We want to beat that' – UAE muses about beating their own stage win record from 2025 Vuelta

It has not been the Giro d'Italia that UAE Team Emirates-XRG had planned, but the WorldTour's top team has made the most of the cards dealt. In fact, despite losing three key riders as a result of the stage 2 crash, they've won three of eight stages so far with Jhonatan Narváez (stage 4 and 8) and Igor Arrieta (stage 5).

"We were joking about the Vuelta last year, [where we won] 7 stages, we want to beat that – but it's a joke," team DS Fabio Baldato told Cyclingnews at the finish of stage 8 where UAE Team Emirates was celebrating Narváez's second stage win. "No, we will still go for stages and we have riders who want to do something – Jan Christen, for example, is really hoping for a stage. We'll see. But we'll celebrate today first, it's a great result."

With 13 days to go and all five remaining riders freed of protecting a GC contender, it's all about stage wins.

"We are a team; if we didn't lose the three guys, we would do it differently. I know – we know we have a little bit more space," said Baldato. "On GC, we don't really have a guy to stay there [Arrieta is best placed in 13th after stage 8 - ed.], and then you have a bit more freedom – you need to use that in the right way."

With Adam Yates, Marc Soler and Jay Vine all recovering from their injuries at home, UAE doesn't have anyone to contest the high mountain stages, but there are plenty more opportunities, starting on Wednesday's lumpy stage 11. It's not outside the realms of possibility that they could win five more stages, which would take them to one more than their record at the 2025 Vuelta, where the tally included a TTT.