Richard Mille is now the Official Watch Partner of UAE Team Emirates. This partnership with UAE’s Tour de France-winning professional cycling team, set to run for four years, will see the team carry Richard Mille branding on their bikes and kits throughout the next four campaigns. The cyclists will also have the chance to sport the Richard Mille RM 67-02 watch.
Following the announcement, Richard Mille’s EMEA CEO, Peter Harrison, said: “UAE Team Emirates has demonstrated time and again that it has world-class standards and a passion for excellence. At Richard Mille, we share the same vision and ambitions, and we’re delighted to go into partnership with Mauro Giannetti and his team. The partnership also marks another significant milestone for us as we draw closer to the athletic community in the Middle East region. We’re extremely proud to become the Official Watch Partner of UAE Team Emirates, and we’re greatly looking forward to supporting the riders and support staff as they press on for further glories. Good luck to them!”
Richard Mille has a long history of patterning with some of the world’s top athletes, from Alain Prost to Rafael Nadal. The objective of these partnerships is to push the watches to their limits by wearing them through the extremes of professional competition – on track, on the court, on water, on the polo field and now on the world’s best cycling tours.
The RM 67-02, the watch worn by UAE Team Emirates members, is an ergonomic model weighing just 32 grams, thanks to its use of TPT composite materials and grade-five titanium. It also features a special strap, entirely seamless, non-slip and highly elastic, so that it follows the contours of the wearer’s wrist morphology.
Last year, despite intense pressures created by the global Covid-19 pandemic, UAE Team Emirates claimed 33 victories across the calendar, peaking at the Tour de France, as Slovenian rider Tadej Pogačar took the famous maillot jaune on debut in the world’s most prestigious cycling road race, aged just 21.
“As a team, we’re always working towards innovation and excellence, so to associate ourselves with a brand of the quality and character of Richard Mille is a great pleasure for us. We’re excited to showcase and test Richard Mille watches at the highest level of competition, and in some of the most challenging conditions in world sport, such as the Tour de France,” said UAE Team Emirates CEO, Mauro Gianetti.
UAE Team Emirates entered the highest level of professional cycling, the UCI WorldTour, in early 2017. The team has the unusual aim, for a professional cycling team, of representing the nation of UAE. It also aims to promote a healthy lifestyle linked to bicycling. The team has attracted a growing number of world-class riders and quality sponsors, taking them to new heights and successes in the world’s biggest races. The culmination of this growth and success has come with the victory of Tadej Pogačar in the Tour de France 2020.
This year’s list of challenges starts at home, with the UAE Tour, which starts today. The team recently announced its lead rider line-ups for this year’s Grand Tours. For the team’s home event, the lead riders are Tadej Pogacar, Davide Formolo and Fernando Gaviria. For the Giro d’Italia in May, it will be Davide Formolo, Brandon McNulty and Fernando Gaviria. The reigning champion, Tadej Pogačar, will take the lead in the Tour de France, scheduled for June and July, and he will be accompanied by Marc Hirschi and Alexander Kristoff. For the La Vuelta Ciclista a España, it will be Tadej Pogačar, Matteo Trentin and David De La Cruz in August and September.
