Tadej Pogačar and his UAE Team Emirates-XRG will discuss the possibility of him targeting the 2026 Vuelta a España in a post-Tour de France debrief on Tuesday, according to his agent Alex Carera, with a final decision and announcement expected some time next week.
Pogačar has joined the select club of riders who have won the Tour de France five times. He won the Giro d’Italia in 2024 but has still to win the Vuelta, usually preferring to take a break after the fatigue of the Tour rather than tackling the Spanish Grand Tour.
A victory in Spain would cement Pogačar’s place in history and make him only the ninth male rider to have won all three Grand Tours. Pogačar last rode the Vuelta in 2019 as a neo-pro rider, showing his talents by finishing third overall.
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He deflected any immediate decision about the Vuelta on Sunday after winning the Tour but did not rule it out.
The Vuelta starts on Saturday, August 22, in his adopted home of Monaco, with even the Prince of Monaco confident that he will ride.
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“Right now, if the Vuelta starts tomorrow I say no, but in two weeks I can still decide,” Pogačar said on Sunday.
Last year, Pogačar was close to burnout and suffering with a knee injury. This year he seems in a far better place and so could be tempted to try to win the Vuelta and complete a Grand Tour triptych, like long-time rival Jonas Vingegaard did by winning the Giro in May.
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“The UAE management and coach Javier Sola have planned a meeting for Tuesday with Tadej to decide, based on how the Tour ended, what to do next,” Carera revealed in an interview with Sky Sports Italia.
“That includes the World Championships for sure and to decide whether or not to ride the Vuelta. I think a decision will be announced at the right moment, probably in about a week or ten days.
“They’ll decide together what is best for Tadej. UAE has always thought about what is best for Tadej’s long-term career, rather than any short-term goals. Considering his success in Grand Tour and the Classics, I think the decisions made have been right so far.”
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Pogačar will travel home to Komenda in Slovenia later this week for his Pogi Challenge charity event and a criterium on Friday with several of his Tour de France teammates and rivals. The weekend ends with Sunday’s S Klanca v klanc ride, where Pogačar will try to catch everyone who starts ahead of him on his local climb. All funds go to the Tadej Pogačar Foundation.
He then plans to spend some time supporting his partner Urška Žigart as she rides the Tour de France Femmes.
“I have a crit race in my home town on Friday night, with some special guests from the Tour. Then the Pogi Challenge with kids and families and amateurs on Sunday. So it’s a big weekend for me,” he explained.
“I then hope I can see some stages of the Tour de France Femmes, to see Urška riding in the Tour.”
Pogačar has only raced two Grand Tours in the same season in 2024 when he won the Giro d’Italia and Tour de France but missed most of the spring Classics. This year he plans to defend his world title in Montreal, Canada, at the end of September and ride the road European Championships in Slovenia on October 4. He is likely to end his season trying to win a record-breaking sixth edition of Il Lombardia on Saturday, October 10.
“I don’t say that last year I was burning out, but I was well aware it can happen. I’m also aware even now,” Pogačar said on Sunday.
“I’m aware it can happen if you push so far. That’s also why I don’t say right now ‘I go to the Vuelta, I do this and that and all the races’. I also need to think about this and keep my feet on the ground.”
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