Tour de France champion Tadej Pogačar will return to the Vuelta a España for the first time since his Grand Tour debut, UAE Team Emirates-XRG announced on Monday morning.
Pogačar burst onto the scene at the 2019 Vuelta, winning three stages, the best young rider's white jersey, and finishing third overall behind compatriot Primož Roglič and Alejandro Valverde.
He will try to match what long-term rival Jonas Vingegaard did when he won the Giro d'Italia earlier this year, and claim victory at all three Grand Tours, something only eight men in history have achieved.
The Vuelta kicks off on August 22 from Monaco, where Pogačar lives. If he is to take victory in Granada three weeks after that, he would join Jacques Anquetil, Bernard Hinault and Chris Froome in the elite club of men's riders to win the Tour and Vuelta in the same season. Froome is the only rider to do so in the modern era, since the Vuelta moved from spring to its late slot in the calendar.
Joining Pogačar on the start line will be a strong but "balanced" UAE roster, including last year's runner-up João Almeida, Jay Vine, Pavel Sivakov, Pablo Torres, Kevin Vermaerke, Domen Novak and Ivo Oliveira.
"I’m excited to say I’m going back to La Vuelta. It was my first ever Grand Tour back in 2019 and an amazing experience. Spain is a country I love to visit and race in and I think the time is right to go back," said Pogačar on the team website.
"The motivation is high to finish off the year in a good way and the Vuelta will be a big target. The team is strong and we hope to do good things."
Pogačar will surely line up as the favourite in Monaco, and set to rival him will be the likes of Roglič (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe), who is chasing the all-time record for red jerseys, Felix Gall (Decathlon CMA CGM), Mattias Skjelmose (Lidl-Trek), and Enric Mas (Movistar).
This will be just the second time in Pogačar's career that he's raced two Grand Tours in the same season, winning both the Giro and Tour in 2024. He was due to race the Spanish GT 12 months ago, but he and the team opted for a longer rest before the World Championships in Rwanda.
In 2026, Pogačar will be targeting a third World Championships title in a row in Montreal, Canada, but racing the Vuelta means he won't compete at the GP Quebec and Montreal in the build-up. He will have two weeks to recover from the finale in Granada on September 13 before the road race.
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