Mauro Gianetti's cycling life runs from rider to organiser to one of the most powerful executives in the WorldTour. As a professional he was a hard one-day racer, winning major races including Liege-Bastogne-Liege and the Amstel Gold Race in the mid-1990s. That racing background still matters in the way UAE Emirates-XRG is built: star power at the top, but also an unusually expensive and versatile support structure underneath it.
After retiring, Gianetti moved into management and became associated with the Saunier Duval/Geox lineage before helping guide the project that became UAE Team Emirates. The team's transformation accelerated around Tadej Pogacar: Tour wins, Monument wins, a deep recruitment machine, and a sponsor stack that makes UAE the benchmark for modern WorldTour scale.
For the 2026 Tour, Gianetti's importance is strategic rather than tactical. He is the person responsible for maintaining the environment around Pogacar: budget, staff, rider recruitment, equipment relationships, and the clear hierarchy that lets the road staff focus on delivering yellow.
Sources
The squad
Mauro Gianetti is part of the UAE Emirates-XRG story at the 2026 Tour — see the full team page.
