Pogacar eyes Vuelta after Tour de France triumph, aiming for Grand Tour triple crown
Seven years after his breakthrough at the 2019 Vuelta, Tadej Pogacar is planning to contest the 2026 Vuelta following his Tour de France win, with his team describing the race as an additional challenge rather than a primary goal.
Seven years after his breakthrough performance at the 2019 Vuelta a España, where he won three stages and finished third overall, Tadej Pogacar is set to target the 2026 edition of the race. After securing a decisive victory in the Tour de France, the Slovenian rider hinted at a possible Vuelta appearance during the final week of the Tour, though he gave no definitive comment when asked.
Pogacar’s team, UAE Team Emirates, has framed the Vuelta as a supplementary objective. Performance director Jeroen Swart said the race is "simply an add-on" to the rider’s post-Tour training programme and emphasized the importance of "mental freshness" over additional altitude work. The team noted that Pogacar had already surveyed several Vuelta climbs during a pre-Tour altitude camp in the Sierra and spent time training in Slovenia before supporting his partner at the Tour de France Femmes.
The Vuelta has been absent from Pogacar’s calendar for several seasons due to its demanding timing and the team’s policy of limiting riders to one Grand Tour per year. He missed the race in 2020 and 2021, and subsequent plans for 2022, 2023 and 2025 were altered by fatigue, injuries and a focus on other objectives. With few strong challengers expected in Spain and the race starting in Monaco, the 2026 Vuelta represents the only remaining Grand Tour that Pogacar has not yet won, completing a potential triple crown of Grand Tour victories.