Updated November 24, 2025 06:05AM
Guess what? The Tour de France will be the center of orbit for GC superstars Tadej Pogačar, Remco Evenepoel, and Jonas Vingegaard in 2026.
Well, duh.
But beyond a 99 percent certain three-way throwdown in July, where will the “Big 3” (sorry, Primož) be racing in 2026?
One flat 40km time trial through Tuscany might be decisive in shaping multiple key storylines of the next year.
The accuracy – or not – or reports of a very long ITT being on the menu at the Giro d’Italia might define whether Evenepoel and Vingegaard race the corsa rosa next year.
In turn, the “Giro yes/Giro no” decision will dictate how Evenepoel and Vingegaard start their seasons, how fresh they’ll be for Pogi at the Tour de France, and what they do afterward.
The Giro’s route reveal on December 1 will be must-watch content for the staffers of cycling’s super-teams.
But there’s more to bike racing than the Giro d’Italia and Tour de France.
Here’s what we know so far about the Big 3’s calendars, and a few hot takes on what they will actually do.
Tadej Pogačar 2026: Rinse and repeat
Pogačar is targeting all the big hits for 2026. (Photo: LOIC VENANCE/AFP via Getty Images)
What we know:
Strade Bianche
Milan-San Remo
Tour of Flanders
Paris-Roubaix
Liège-Bastogne-Liège
Tour de France
Canadian GPs
Road world championships (Montréal)
Il Lombardia
TBD: Vuelta a España
Five monuments and the hunt for a fifth Tour de France title headline Pogačar’s likely program for 2026.
Chatter from UAE Emirates-XRG suggests the Slovenian will stampede through the new year on a similar path to that which he followed through his wildly successful 2025.
The only likely tweaks from before?
A delayed debut in March at Strade Bianche, and per reports from HLN, the potential for a more lightweight Ardennes classics campaign.
Why those changes? So he doesn’t finish the Tour de France as a total train wreck.
Hints at a lower volume early season suggest Pogačar hasn’t forgotten the fatigue-thwarted promise he made this year to return to the Vuelta a España.
“Team Pog” hasn’t said much about the Spanish tour so far, and it will likely remain TBD until they see how well he survives the summer.
The most exciting part of Pogačar’s potential 2026? Milan-San Remo and Roubaix are back, baby!
“[In 2026] we’ll go for the Tour again, that’s quite obvious – it’s the biggest race of them all,” Pogačar recently told MARCA. “But I also want to express myself again in the classics, to show if I can improve in one-day races compared to this year or last.
“Milan-San Remo and Roubaix are the two races that I’m really motivated to try again and fight for the win,” he said.
Go buy your popcorn already.
Our take? Why change what ain’t broke
We’re already hyped for a Pogi vs. MVDP rematch at Roubaix. (Photo: Dario Belingheri/Getty Images)
What is there to say about Pogačar’s likely program? It’s 2025, all over again.
And why not? It worked pretty darn well first time around.
Is that boring? Far from it.
Pogačar vs. MVDP at San Remo and Roubaix will be the best two days of racing all year.
And beyond that, Pogačar’s likely 2026 schedule introduces plenty of juicy plotlines.
If the super Slovene wins La Classicissima and the Hell of the North, he’ll join Eddy Merckx, Roger De Vlaeminck, and Rik Van Looy in owning the monument sweep.
Likewise, a fifth victory at the Tour de France will confirm Pogačar as one of the all-time grand tour racers. Jacques Anquetil, Bernard Hinault, Miguel Induráin, and yes, Merckx are the only riders who have won five yellow jerseys.
And whether Pogačar wins the Tour de France or not, he could become one of the few to have won all three grand tours if he returns to the Vuelta a España.
And let’s not forget a shot at a third consecutive world title. Only “Three-Peter” Sagan has done that.
And a sixth win at Il Lombardia? That would be the most ever – one more than the all-time record Pogačar currently shares with Fausto Coppi.
Jonas Vingegaard 2026: The call of the grand tour sweep
Vingegaard checked off the Vuelta a España in 2025, meaning the Giro d’Italia is the only grand tour he’s missing. (Photo: Tim de Waele/Getty Images)
What we know:
To be honest, we don’t know a lot. Like always, the Tour de France is the only certainty.
TBD: Giro d’Italia
Team Visma-Lease a Bike is notoriously reluctant to let race calendars slip before they’re confirmed.
However, Vingegaard himself shared a juicy tidbit when he spoke to La Dernière Heure earlier this month.
After seven years in the WorldTour and eight grand tour starts, he might finally race the Giro d’Italia in 2026.
“Win all three grand tours or the Tour de France in 2026? I think I’d prefer to win the three grand tours,” Vingegaard said. “After [I’ve won] the Tour de France and the Vuelta, I only have the Giro left.”
He will be watching the Giro’s grand reveal very closely on December 1. A 40km TT or not, a course loaded with long, high-altitude climbs will have him purring with pleasure.
But whatever Vingegaard decides about the corsa rosa, there’s no escaping the gravity of the Tour.
“We haven’t decided yet where I’ll race next season,” Vingegaard told La Dernière Heure. “The Tour de France obviously remains the big objective.”
One intriguing thing?
Vingegaard has told L’Equipe he’s still classics-curious, despite his recent disaster at the European championships. Liège and Lombardia both seemed to pique the Dane’s interest.
But before you get excited, Vingegaard didn’t make any mention of actually returning to the hilly monuments in 2026.
Our take? The Tour is the Tour, the Giro will have to wait
It’s TDF or bust for Vingegaard and Visma-Lease a Bike. (Photo: Getty Images)
Who wouldn’t love to see Vingegaard make his Giro d’Italia debut, potentially to spar with young upstart Remco?
It would be refreshing to see the Dane finally mix up his schedule and potentially beat Pogi to the grand tour sweep along the way.
But I don’t think he should, or will, do it.
For Vingegaard and Visma-Lease a Bike, the Tour is the Tour. It’s their North Star. And after two consecutive defeats to Pogačar, it’s shining brighter than ever.
For Vingeaard and his “Bees,” the Giro d’Italia is an unnecessary detour.
While Pogačar proved in 2024 that the Giro-Tour double is possible, he had both luck and physiological freakery at his side. Crashes, sickness, and long-lying fatigue stalk any rider who dares to start the most gruelling three-weeker of them all.
Vingegaard showed this summer at the Tour de France that he’s still capable of slugging it out with Pogi – even after his concussion setback in the spring.
V-LAB will sense the maillot jaune is still a possibility. They won’t want to put unnecessary potholes in the way.
The Giro d’Italia (and hilly spring classics) will have to wait.
Remco Evenepoel 2026: New team, new year … new goals?
How will Evenepoel’s peloton-shifting transfer to Red Bull Bora-Hansgrohe work out in 2026? (Photo: Dario Belingheri/Getty Images)
What we know:
Either: Classics focus
Milan-San Remo
Tour of Flanders
Liège-Bastogne-Liège
Tour de France
Canadian GPs
Road world championships TT and road race
OR: Giro debut
Milan-San Remo
Liège-Bastogne-Liège
Giro d’Italia
Tour de France
Canadian GPs
Road world championships TT and road race
Evenepoel’s mega-profile first season with Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe is in the hands of Giro d’Italia organizers.
The course reveal of the Italian tour will likely trigger Evenepoel’s decision between two wildly different programs for his first year as a Bora-Bull.
“At the moment, we have a plan A and a plan B on the table for 2026,” Evenepoel recently told Het Laatste Nieuws. “The first includes a classics campaign, the second the Giro.
“Based on the Giro d’Italia route, we’ll assess things and decide in consultation on what’s feasible physically and in terms of training,” he said.
A flat 40km time trial would play directly into the hands of the world’s most slippery rider. Evenepoel would be able to bank at least one minute in the GC fight before he’s even seen the awful peaks of the Alps – and he knows it.
“An effort of at least 45 minutes, tailor-made for me. That’s already a good start, a step in the right direction,” Evenepoel said of the TT.
Evenepoel’s schedule will become more certain with the Giro route reveal on December 1.
But what is already a dead cert is the Tour de France. That’s what Red Bull decided to pay him the second-highest salary in pro cycling for.
The other pillars of Evenepoel’s calendar look set to be Liège-Bastogne-Liège in April, and the world championship road race and time trial in September.
A couple last juicy rumors?
Reports from Gazzetta dello Sport that Evenepoel will make his debut at Milan-San Remo in 2026, and from HLN that he might even show up at the Tour of Flanders.
Our take? Make the Giro the priority
The Giro might offer a more favorable entry to grand tour racing with Red Bull than the Tour for Evenepoel. (Photo: Tim de Waele/Getty Images)
Evenepoel should race the Giro d’Italia in 2026, whether that TT is 40km or 20km.
And he should do it proper.
No half-assing or stage-hunting.
Squaring off with Pogačar and Vingegaard at the Tour de France as the first grand tour with a new team seems like a solid gold recipe for disaster.
The Giro d’Italia would provide Evenepoel a lower-pressure, Pogi-free tester of grand tour racing, Red Bull-style.
Sure, Evenepoel will have done some stage racing for the Bora-Bulls in the early season, but the wrinkles that come with new teammates and directors only reveal themselves deep into the muck and guts of a grand tour.
Yes, Evenepoel will jeopardize his chances in the Tour de France by going to Italy first. But let’s face it, he’s not going to win yellow in 2026 anyway.
Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe would count victory at the Giro d’Italia, and a TT win and top GC placing at the Tour de France, as a wild success.