Days after winning their second straight Tour de France with Tadej Pogačar, the UAE Team Emirates announced its has signed 19-year-old Finn Fisher-Black with immediate effect on a contract that will last through the 2024 season.
Fisher-Black will debut with UAE Team Emirates in the UCI 1.1-ranked Prueba Villafranca - Ordiziako Klasika on Sunday.
The New Zealander has been part of Jumbo-Visma's development team since 2020 but the Dutch team lost out in the bidding for the two-time U23 time trial champion.
Fisher-Black won the Istrian Spring Trophy in March before stepping up to race with the Jumbo-Visma WorldTour team under UCI rules that allow development team riders to guest ride for their organisation's top tier team. He finished fourth overall in the Baloise Belgium Tour with a strong individual time trial in Knokke-Heist where he was third behind Remco Evenepoel and Yves Lampaert.
"I'm really happy to be joining the UAE Team Emirates family. With such a diverse group of riders and staff it makes for a really special atmosphere that I can see myself thriving in," Fisher-Black said in a UAE Team Emirates press release. "Stepping up to World Tour and finding my level and rhythm will take time but I hope I can contribute to the team leaders and in time, bring home some nice victories along the way as well."
UAE Team Emirates CEO Mauro Gianetti has ensured the team's long-term success with several extended contracts, including Pogačar through 2026, Juan Ayuso through 2025, Fisher-Black and German sprinter Felix Groß through 2024, and Mark Hirschi through 2023.
"Finn is a very young rider with enormous talent," Gianetti said. "It's no secret that our goal is to nurture young talents as we are doing with Pogačar, [Mikkel] Bjerg, [Brandon] McNulty, Hirschi, Ayuso and so many others. We are building a team for the present but also for the future."
