"He hasn’t said he won’t do the Vuelta - so we’re optimistic" - Javier Guillen hopeful lure of completing Grand Tour will entice Tadej Pogacar to Spain in 2025

Tadej Pogacar's road to completing the sport of cycling has a few notable sticking points. Already in 2025, the Slovenian has come close to adding Milano-Sanremo and Paris-Roubaix wins to his palmares for the first time, and Vuelta a Espana boss Javier Guillen is hopeful a similar lure of adding a new win will entice the world champion to the Spanish Grand Tour later this year.

"Yes, but I always say one thing: as of today, Pogacar hasn’t ruled out the Vuelta. He’s said he’s doing the Tour and the World Championships, but he hasn’t said he won’t do the Vuelta - so we’re optimistic," explains the Vuelta race director in an interview with Mundo Deportivo. "With how competitive and driven he is, I truly believe he’s the most interested - along with us - in completing his collection of all three Grand Tours. That gives us hope he’ll come."

"I’m not going to pressure him," Guillen is quick to add though. "Hopefully, he says yes. And if he says no, we’ll wait for another year, because cycling should be grateful to have a rider like Tadej."

Although Pogacar's presence remains up in the air, we do now know the complete list of teams competing at the 2025 Vuelta a Espana. Notably, Equipo Kern Pharma, one of the stars of the 2024 edition have been left out, despite an extra wildcard being added to the race. "Well, in the end, you have to make a selection. Initially, we had two invitations, and that eventually became three. These wild card spots are at the organizer’s discretion and, regardless of the reactions, it's always a matter of perspective. I think it’s clear that La Vuelta is making a firm commitment to Spanish cycling," Guillen says of this topic of debate.

"Their frustration is completely understandable. The only difference is that last year, when Caja Rural and Burgos were left out of the Vuelta, they didn’t make it public," he continues. "They're well within their rights to voice their feelings - just as La Vuelta is within its rights not to respond to every criticism. In the end, it’s always the same: for some, it brings great joy, and for others, real disappointment. Everyone reacts differently. Take Euskaltel, for example - they weren’t invited this year either, but they haven’t made any public reaction."

"I haven’t seen anyone demanding meritocracy when it comes to invitations to the Tour or the Giro. And no one’s questioned why a team like Uno-X hasn’t come to La Vuelta. In the end, it’s about where we choose to shine the spotlight. Spanish teams are upset about not being invited because they’re Spanish. There’s clearly a lot of pressure," adds the race director. "Q36.5, the Swiss team that includes Tom Pidcock and was invited, has an outstanding rider - but what most people don’t notice is that they also have five Spanish riders. So, yes, it’s a foreign team, but one that’s backing Spanish talent, and that counts. Especially when you consider that there are Spanish teams fielding lineups made up entirely of foreign riders."