UAE Team Emirates linked to Vuelta doping controversy

UAE Team Emirates is facing renewed scrutiny because two senior figures in its sporting structure were involved in the management of the team that won the 2011 Vuelta with Juan José Cobo. The episode has returned to focus after Cobo’s victory was removed from the record, reviving questions about cycling’s links to its doping-tainted past.

Cobo originally finished ahead of Chris Froome after taking control of the race with a victory on the Angliru. In July 2019, the International Cycling Union (UCI) disqualified him following abnormal findings in his biological passport covering the period from 2009 to 2011. Froome was then recognised as the official winner, while Cobo’s result was erased.

The 2011 champion rode for Geox-TMC, managed by Mauro Gianetti and Joxean Fernández Matxin. Gianetti is now UAE Team Emirates’ general manager, while Matxin serves as its principal sporting director and is known for identifying Tadej Pogačar before the Slovenian became the team’s leading rider.

Both men had previously led Saunier Duval, a team associated with the Riccardo Ricco affair and the use of CERA at the 2008 Tour de France. Their continued presence at the top of one of the peloton’s dominant teams has sustained scepticism among observers, particularly after Cobo’s disqualification. The case connects UAE’s current leadership to a former team whose Vuelta triumph was later overturned.