An exciting challenge, from the first to the last day. The UCI ranking says that the Jumbo Visma is the number 1 team ahead of the uae, however, the statistics show a resounding tie in the number of victories – 48 each – the highest total in the entire season. We then tried to retrace 2022 through the successes of the two teams, like in a video game, as if they were two cars driven by a joystick, crossing the finish line simultaneously.
Let's start with January: one victory each, with Rohan Dennis which brings the first success for Jumbo in the Australian time trial championship, but at the end of the month the American McNulty evens the score at the Calvia Trophy. In February, however, the UAE began its escape and it was immediately clear that it would be a long escape., with 8 successes including 3 of pogacar at the UAE Tour (it would almost be the case to say that playing at home the team made the most of the home field advantage…). Jumbo responded with only 2 successes, but that of Van Aert at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad makes the Belgian's intentions clear.
UAE on a solitary escape
In March, the Arab team achieved a significant number of victories, with 22 victories compared to the Dutch team's 8. Pogacar continues to dominate with three victories at the Tirreno Adriatico, in addition to his extraordinary performance at the Strade Bianche. At Jumbo, Roglic He has his say with a stage victory and the overall classification of Paris-Nice, but it seems like little to counter the battleship of the Emirates.
Battleship which however, somewhat surprisingly, he is left high and dry in the month of AprilJumbo took advantage of this to reduce the disadvantage with a nice poker of successes, including 3 of them have the signature of Olav Kooij, at the Circuit de la Sarthe. In May the two teams are not among the most successful, but Jumbo nibbles away another slice thanks above all to Bouwman with his two victories at the Giro d'Italia out of his 3 in total, while the Uae only has two.
Jumbo Visma Redemption
June sees the two teams face off head-to-head. Jumbo has achieved 10 victories and one day is destined to remain, at least statistically, in historyIn fact, on June 12th the Dutch team won 3 times, with vingegaard the stage of the Critérium du Dauphiné, with Roglic the final classification and with Kooij a fraction of the ZLM TourUAE stops at eight wins, with the ever-evolving Tadej leading the way with three victories in his Tour of Slovenia. The overall score is 32-25 for UAE, but they're starting to feel the pinch of their rivals...
July arrives and for Jumbo it is the yellow apotheosis of Vingegaard. A total of 9 victories with the Dane and the extraordinary Van Aert of the French days who closed the gap on the rival team, where Pogacar limited the damage with 3 stage victories that however could not ease the pain of losing the throne of the Grande Boucle. The score is 36-34, everything is up for discussion..
Photo-finish sprint
It's August, and Jumbo has made a major leap forward with eight wins in total, double its rivals. Uncertainty about how the match will end reigns supreme. In September, a month full of events, Jumbo gets 3 successes, Uae one moreOn the 14th of the month, almost simultaneously, the Swiss Hirsch takes home the Giro di Toscana and Trentino A stage at the Tour of Luxembourg. Heading into the final round, the scoreboard reads 45-44 for Jumbo.
OctoberThe Dutch take home three victories, but Pogacar is unleashed on the other side, beating Tre Valli and Lombardia. UAE wins four times, and the match ends with a Solomonic draw, 48-48, but the UCI points calculation rewards Jumbo-Visma, for a record which for the orange leaders has an enormous weight, a reward for their work.
Goal 2023
Going into detail, it is noted that the UAE Team Emirates, despite working hard on the support for Pogacar, is still strictly dependent on the Slovenian, who takes home a third of the total victories: 16. Hirschi follows with 4 and the disproportion is evident. A surprise arrives at Jumbo's house, The record holder for victories is clearly the young Dutchman Olav Kooji with 12, followed by Van Aert with 9 and Roglic and Laporte with 5.
The concept is reversed, however, if we look at how many riders crossed the finish line first: in the UAE there were 16 against the 11 of Jumbo and on this aspect the sports directors of the Arab team rely heavily for to overturn the fortunes of the team classification in 2023It looks set to be another uncertain championship right down to the last day...
