Pavel Sivakov: The pressure to win the Tour de France is on Visma-Lease a Bike

New UAE Team Emirates recruit discusses his first few weeks with the team, his Grand Tour ambitions and why now was the time to leave Ineos Grenadiers

15:00, Saturday 6th January 2024

George Poole

Junior Writer

Pavel Sivakov entered the WorldTour with Ineos Grenadiers, but has left the British team for UAE Team Emirates in 2024

With all being well, Pavel Sivakov will take to the start of this summer's Tour de France on the eve of his 27th birthday. A return to the sport's biggest race seems a long time coming for the Frenchman, but Sivakov will take confidence in lining up alongside an all-star cast for UAE Team Emirates.

The six-year WorldTour pro made his name as a talented youngster with Team Sky (subsequently Ineos Grenadiers) but has traded the British team for the Emirati outfit in 2024, and recently sat down with GCN at the UAE Team Emirates Spanish training camp to discuss the move.

Naturally, Tadej Pogačar is the team leader for the Tour de France, Adam Yates will make for an able deputy, whilst Tim Wellens and Nils Politt will provide the manpower to steer the team between the mountains. But once the race reaches the hills, it will be down to Sivakov and his new teammates Juan Ayuso, João Almeida and Marc Soler to tee up their leaders.

This is a duty that excites rather than daunts, Sivakov, however, with the talented climber happy to enter this year's Tour much as his former team Ineos Grenadiers have over the past few years: as the underdog.

It may seem far-fetched at first glance - after all, Pogačar is arguably the world's greatest rider - but Jonas Vingegaard will begin the race as the two-time defending champion, and in Sivakov's eyes, this puts all the burden of expectation on the Dane's Visma-Lease a Bike team.

"The pressure will be on them," Sivakov says to GCN. "Although on paper we may have the dream team, the pressure to win the Tour is on them. They won three Grand Tours last year and we’re in an ideal position, so I am looking forward to that."

As he notes, Visma-Lease a Bike are not only the defending champions but also the dominant force in all three of last year's Grand Tours, thus there will be an expectation on the Dutch team to control the race, albeit, this may change depending on who wears the yellow jersey at any given moment. In turn, Sivakov is quickly able to bat away any suggestion that UAE Team Emirates have named an unbalanced squad for the Tour.

"I think no one has ever seen a team like this, it is going to be fireworks," he says of the eight-man squad that certainly includes more climbing pedigree than any team that Visma-Lease a Bike may roll out.

The thought of playing the underdog is one that will surely excite much of the peloton this season. The chance to topple Visma-Lease a Bike offers motivation not dissimilar to when the Dutch team themselves were trying to dislodge Team Sky from their Grand Tour perch.

For the former Sky man, a wry chuckle lightens the room when GCN mentions the possibility of deposing Visma-Lease a Bike of their Tour de France crown.

"There is a kind of motivation in thinking next year we will beat them," admits Sivakov. "There is also the satisfaction to win, but I think we want to end the streak, so that would be great!"

When Sivakov joined Ineos Grenadiers - then Team Sky - in 2018, the British outfit were on top of the cycling tree. Chris Froome was at his domineering best, Geraint Thomas was to become their third Tour de France champion and Egan Bernal was to sign for the team alongside the Frenchman.

But for the past four seasons, Ineos Grenadiers have not quite carried the same aura as they once did and Sivakov has no regrets over leaving for pastures new. There does not need to be a big song and dance over his departure, nor any controversy, instead, the 26-year-old says it was simply time to move on.

'If I'd have stayed at Ineos, I'd have finished my career there,' says Sivakov

Sivakov is part of an exodus from Ineos Grenadiers that includes Tao Geoghegan Hart, Ben Tulett, Dani Martínez and Luke Plapp. The departures of so many key riders have only added fuel to the fire in terms of public criticism of the team, who admittedly look a step or two behind their former selves.

But whilst many are quick to point the finger at these departures for evidence of management incompetence, Sivakov suggests that the loss of both himself and Geoghegan Hart in the same winter is simply a case of bad timing for the team, though perfect timing for the two riders.

"We've been for so long in the same environment," reflects Sivakov, "I think for us it was about time. At the end of the day, a cycling career is not that long and if you stay in the same team, maybe then you will have some regrets by the end."

"I think for us it was just about time to try something new and I think we will both benefit from this."

The 2019 Giro d'Italia brought Pavel Sivakov his best Grand Tour performance to date

Once part of the new frontier at Sky back in the late 2010s, Sivakov was a burgeoning talent who was tipped to succeed the likes of Froome and Thomas as team leader one day. He won the young rider's jersey in his first appearance for the team, at Coppi e Bartali, before winning both the Tour of the Alps and the Tour de Pologne in his second season amongst the WorldTour.

Leadership opportunity awaited at the 2019 Giro d'Italia and Sivakov picked up his best Grand Tour result to date, with a 9th place finish. But Sivakov has been beset by misfortune from time to time - he has DNF'd his last two Grand Tours - and at 26 years of age, it seemed as though the Frenchaman's chances at leadership may be dwindling.

Instead, Sivakov was relied upon as a climbing super domestique and was one of the most valued members of Ineos Grenadiers' roster. But much like Geoghegan Hart, Sivakov did not want to approach his 30s without giving himself a crack elsewhere.

"It is now or never, if I’d have stayed at Ineos, I’d have stayed in that role, settled in that position within that team and then finished my career there," Sivakov says. "But I want more than this and I want to try something new."

Winter training camps are often an overwhelming occasion for riders on the move. Sivakov has a familiar face in former Ineos teammate Yates, but the team's camp in La Nucia, Spain, is as much about getting used to new surroundings, new ways of working and new teammates as much as it is about getting kilometres in the bank.

For Sivakov, however, he knows he has made the right decision to move on because as he says, he does not "have the FOMO [fear of missing out] of not being in Mallorca" with Ineos Grenadiers. Instead, his mind is firmly on the Costa Blanca and the happiness he has found with UAE Team Emirates.

Opportunities await at UAE Team Emirates, as Sivakov follows in Adam Yates' footprints

As we speak to Sivakov, the Frenchman has been at camp with UAE Team Emirates for long enough to get a feel of the place. Adam Yates has reportedly been firing on all cylinders in training, all attention has been on Tadej Pogačar's Grand Tour schedule and Sivakov has been able to settle in without too much of a spotlight.

"I'm really enjoying the new environment, new guys, starting fresh and starting new, Sivakov says. "That’s what I wanted really, to just make that step up that I’ve missed over the past few years.

"I think I have made a good choice here. Although some people might think there are already a lot of leaders and big riders here, I think this is a team that always gives opportunities to everyone and that is a project that I really liked."

As Sivakov notes, there has been some rightful discussion over the merits of his move from Ineos Grenadiers to the team ranked no.1 in the UCI's rankings. If the Frenchman couldn't get enough opportunities with Ineos, what benefits can be gained from moving to the team of Pogačar? Well, Sivakov need only look to Yates to justify his move.

Adam Yates beat Pavel Sivakov in a two-up sprint to decide the GP de Montréal last season

The same question was asked of Yates when he made the same transfer last winter, but in his first year with UAE Team Emirates, the British climber was able to win GP de Montréal, the Tour de Romandie and claim third place on the podium of the Tour de France.

In fact, it was Sivakov who the man from Bury pipped in a sprint to claim victory in Montréal and the Frenchman is quick to make the point that as long as the form is there, riders are afforded their opportunity to shine at UAE Team Emirates.

"Having big riders next to you is an opportunity because we can play different cards. It takes pressure away from you, it takes pressure away from them and can have a balance between that.

"I think as long as you have the high level at the end, the legs do the talking," he adds, "and if you're good, then you’re good."

The move to UAE Team Emirates is not only one in search of further opportunities, but also with an eye on improving Sivakov's abilities as a rider. Yates may have been a strong one-week racer with Ineos Grenadiers, but he was able to find unprecedented consistency at last summer's Tour de France and Sivakov is hoping that the team's emphasis on Zone 2 training will also offer him similar durability.

"Training is definitely completely different here," Sivakov notes. "I've been out doing a lot of Zone 2, which I haven't done a lot in the past. It’s much more simple, but it’s just something interesting and I’m looking forward to seeing what it is going to bring me.

"It is work that I’m not going to see next month or in two months, it is going to be more longer term and hopefully I will be a more resistant rider. Hopefully, it will also improve my climbing in terms of my capacities to sustain a really high pace for a long time."

Sivakov makes no bones about it; at 26 years of age, five victories do not reflect his talents as a rider, and with a move to UAE Team Emirates comes not only a change in his physical makeup, but also his mindset.

'I want to be more mentally confident' is the approach as Sivakov eyes a dream Grand Tour win

As Sivakov discussed at length on a recent episode of The Cycling Podcast, one of his big targets for 2024 is to have more confidence in his abilities, an aim that he reiterated at training camp.

"I want to be more mentally confident in myself and perhaps having a fresh start is exactly what I needed for that," he explains. "In a new team and a new role, I feel straight away that the team trusts me, I have a great programme and all being well, I should be going to the Tour. It is the race that I dream about, it is probably the biggest race that I want to ride."

Indeed, Sivakov was assured a place in the team's Tour de France team upon signing his contract, but whilst the Frenchman will no doubt be essential to Pogačar's bid for a third Tour crown, domestique duties are not the end of Sivakov's ambitions with his new team.

"My dream would be to win a Grand Tour in my career," Sivakov says. "These next three years, I think will be really important for myself. I want to do everything at the maximum to see where I can go and then maybe after this I can sit down and say, ‘this is my ceiling,’ but I’m 26 and I still think I haven't used my full potential."

It is not certain at this moment in time, but Sivakov could line up at the Vuelta a España in the autumn alongside Yates, Almeida and Jay Vine, which would offer him the chance to try his hand at Grand Tour leadership. By then, he will hope to be reaping the rewards of his new training regime and his brave call to test himself outside of the Ineos bubble.

Spirits are high in the UAE Team Emirates camp, as they plot their assault on Visma-Lease a Bike's Grand Tour strangehold

"At the end, the ceiling will be at the moment where I think I have done everything I could, I have tried different kinds of training, nutrition and that will be my level," Sivakov says. "But for the moment, I don’t think I have reached 100%, I don’t think I have used all of the capabilities I have. So I will work hard to one day try and win a Grand Tour, but it starts with just winning races and winning week-long stage races."

For both Sivakov and UAE Team Emirates, the ultimate success in 2024 would, of course, be to reclaim the Tour de France title through Pogačar. With an all-star fleet assembled to assist the Slovenian, a mammoth showdown with Vingegaard is expected.

In the week-long stage races, meanwhile, Sivakov will hope to find the same opportunities that Yates benefitted from in 2023. At the end of the year, however, the Frenchman is hoping to have found the consistency and spot of good luck that have eluded him over the last couple of years.

"Just to be consistent all season and really make that step up, I think that would be the biggest achievement," he says. "To show to myself that I did that big progression and that I came to a new level of riding, that would the main achievement personally."