The team was established in 2017 as
UAE Abu Dhabi before being renamed UAE Team Emirates in 2018. It is sponsored by the
UAE government and the team has achieved notable success in various prestigious races, including stage wins and overall victories in Grand Tours (the Tour de France, Giro d'Italia, and Vuelta a España) and one-day races. The team was temporarily suspended from the ProTour in 2010, missing
one ProTour event.
Transition from an Italian-based team Chinese involvement In August 2016 the team (then called Lampre-Merida) confirmed that its WorldTeam licence was being transferred from CGS Cycling to Chinese company TJ Sport Consultation, with the team becoming the first Chinese WorldTour team from 2017. Former team manager
Mauro Gianetti was announced as the co-ordinator for the project. In an interview with
La Gazzetta dello Sport the following month, Saronni confirmed that he and CGS Cycling would continue to manage the team on TJ Sport's behalf, and that the team's bicycles would be supplied by
Colnago. He indicated that the project was being co-ordinated by the Chinese government via TJ Sport with involvement from a number of Chinese companies including
Alibaba, and that its aim was to develop Chinese cycling and riders. When the
UCI awarded 17 WorldTour licences to teams in November, it announced that TJ Sport's application was "under review" by its Licensing Commission. According to
Saronni, the reason for the delay was that the head of the TJ Sport project,
Li Zhiqiang, had fallen seriously ill, which prevented funding for the project from being confirmed.
Emirati rescue As a result, the team looked elsewhere for sponsorship, securing funding from the
United Arab Emirates and changing its name to UAE
Abu Dhabi. The UCI confirmed the team's WorldTour licence on 20 December. In February 2017, the team announced that airline
Emirates had signed on with the team as a naming-rights sponsor. The team was subsequently known as UAE Team Emirates. In June 2017, two days before the
2017 Tour de France the team announced it would also be sponsored by the
First Abu Dhabi Bank, an amalgamation of the
First Gulf Bank and the
National Bank of Abu Dhabi, with their logo being added to the chest and side of the team's jersey. Additionally, in December 2024, the Abu Dhabi-based energy company XRG, a subsidiary of
ADNOC, was added as a team co-title sponsor and the official energy partner, for at least a six-year term, resulting in the latest team name change. As of April 2026, the team's main sponsors included indoor cycling software
MyWhoosh, bicycle manufacturer
Colnago, Swiss luxury watchmaking brand
Richard Mille, Emirati artificial intelligence company
G42,
First Abu Dhabi Bank, Italian clothing brand Pissei,
International Holding Company, sovereign wealth fund
Abu Dhabi Developmental Holding Company (ADQ), telecommunications company
e&. == Kit and equipment ==