UAE Team Emirates-XRG manager Mauro Gianetti has explained that Tadej Pogačar‘s decision not to race the Vuelta a España was due to the need to give their team leader mental and physical breathing space after the demands of his spectacularly successful, but very intense 2025 season.
Pogačar’s run of 2025 victories began with the UAE Tour in February and recently ended with his fourth Tour de France victory in six years. He also won Strade Bianche, the Tour of Flanders, Liège-Bastogne-Liège and the Critérium du Dauphiné. His worst result was third in Milan-San Remo.
The decision not to ride the Vuelta a España, a goal Pogačar had cited as possible during the winter, was made public shortly after he finished the Tour de France. Juan Ayuso will now co-lead UAE Team Emirates in Spain alongside João Almeida.
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Gianetti explained that the team felt it was important Pogačar “has enough physical and mental rest to be happy in races, to enjoy himself and to provide entertainment as he has always done.”
“Being Tadej Pogačar is nice, but it’s not easy,” Gianetti told Cyclingnews and Domestique during the recent Tour of Pologne, won by UAE rider Brandon McNulty on the final day.
Pogačar referred to how long he will be capable of racing at the highest level in a recent interview with Slovenian media, saying, “I am counting the years to my retirement.”
“I am prepared for everything that is coming,” Pogačar said. “So I am all the more aware that I have to enjoy the moment. I have to be prepared to stop, say thank you and say goodbye to racing at the highest level.”
Talking in Pologne, Gianetti argued that Pogačar’s ultra-intense first half of the season was a key factor in his opting for fewer races in the second part of 2025.
Pogačar has raced 43 days this year so far, compared to 54 by this point in 2024. But unlike in 2024 when he completed the Giro-Tour double, Pogačar targeted the spring Classics. Gianetti suggested that doing a one-day race of the magnitude of Paris-Roubaix – not initially on Pogačar’s programme – took a much greater emotional and physical toll than a week-long stage race.
Reasons for the one-day races being so demanding were a result of the combination of “the change of terrain from pavé to the climbs, the changes in the weather, the race itself, and taking on very different rivals,” Gianetti said.
What really happened in the third week of the Tour de France
Tadej Pogačar again took centre stage on the final Tour de France podium (Image credit: Getty Images)
Pogačar’s domination has created a tendency to forget that even the most talented riders have mental and physical limits.
This became abundantly clear in the final week of the Tour, where Pogačar’s ‘failure’ to crush his rivals created a vast bubble of speculation about his mood and motivation. Suggested reasons have ranged from boredom to gifting stage wins to simply losing motivation. None of the theories have been confirmed by the team.
When asked for clarity on the issue, Gianetti said that Pogačar was tired, “just like everybody else.” He also pointed out that Pogačar’s performance on the last day on the Montmartre showed he was determined to end the race on a high note.
Furthermore, it’s never too soon to start fighting for the next Tour de France. Gianetti suggested that signing off in such an aggressive style meant Pogačar sent an important psychological message to his rivals about what to expect come July 2026.
“He’s been through a very stressful Tour, a very demanding one, above all on a physical level, a lot of transfers and for him, being Tadej, it became difficult. He’s a very straightforward person, and to be the centre of attention every day became tiring,” Gianetti said.
“He was tired, like everybody, but he won the Tour, he won it with a smile and on the last day in Montmartre, he put on an incredible show with Wout van Aert.
“He could have sat calmly in the middle of the bunch, but he wanted to be in the action, and to honour himself, to honour Tadej Pogačar, and honour the Tour and his rivals. So what he did on the last day of the Tour, smiling all the way – that was the answer to all things that had happened.”
UAE Team Emirates-XRG for the Vuelta a España
Juan Ayuso will lead UAE at the Vuelta alongside João Almeida (Image credit: Luca Bettini / AFP / Getty Images)
The absence of Pogačar in the Vuelta a España makes Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease A Bike) the big favourite for overall victory, but Gianetti argued that UAE’s contenders in the three-week Grand Tour will also have a significant role to play.
Pogačar has been replaced in the Vuelta by Juan Ayuso and João Almeida. Both riders have had unfinished business with Grand Tours this year. Almeida crashed out of the Tour de France, and Ayuso abandoned the Giro d’Italia due to factors ranging from an injured knee to a wasp sting.
As Gianetti argued, Ayuso was very keen to make an impact after his relatively late call-up.
“He’s motivated, he’s keen to do the Vuelta, unfortunately in the Giro d’Italia, he had the problems that he had, so he couldn’t do what he wanted to do. But that means the Vuelta is a great opportunity for him,” Gianetti said.
“He’s already been third there and he’ll divide the leadership with João Almeida, who’s back after his incident at the Tour. We’re going to the Vuelta with a motivated squad with a high level, and we’ve got great adversaries, too. It’ll be an interesting race.”