At twenty-one years old, António Morgado already has a year as a professional behind him and, above all, he seems to have a bright future ahead of him. The Portuguese, second at the U23 World Cup in Glasgow 2023 and fifth at the Tour of Flanders 2024, is part of the UAE Team Emirates XRG, which is the unquestionably strongest formation of this period. One would expect, in such a context, that a twenty-year-old has a relative space in team strategies, but Morgado is already a reality and, above all, can boast great consideration from the technicians of the Emirati training.
"Morgado is incredibly versatile - the words of the sports director of the UAE, Joxean Matxin Fernandez, collected by Sporza - He knows how to win on time trial, impose himself in the narrow volleys and stand with the best even on double-digit slopes, as happened at the Volta ao Algarve 2024. By 2025, António will simply have to be more consistent in his performance, in order to take a step forward in his development. And we believe that he will be able to take this step by running a Grande Giro for the first time in his career".
The Great Giro in question, for the young Portuguese, will be the Vuelta a España 2025: "I think Morgado must believe more in himself - adds Matxin - We put unlimited confidence in him. We consider him one of the most important runners for our team, looking to the future".
The young Portuguese had snatched a smile last spring, when, after the second place obtained at Le Samyn, he said that he didn't like paved races... Since then things have changed: "Yes, I started to like those races a little more. I realized that I still prefer the long ones, like Gent-Wevelgem or Flanders. The Paris-Roubaix? Yes, I think I'm suitable for that race too. Then, I know that because of my physical characteristics, I won't be able to win a Grand Tour, but I still want to try to improve my qualities as a climber during my career".
