"I don't know if you can call the Tour de France 'anti-Pogacar'" - UAE leader's agent on ASO's route choices
Cycling
The confirmation of the 2027 Tour de France route has come as a surprise, featuring plenty time trialing kilometers and less difficult stages than in previous years. Many have argued that the route is build to restrain Tadej Pogacar's ability to dominate the overall classification; but his agent thinks otherwise.
"I don't know if you can call the Tour de France 'anti-Pogacar'," his agent Alex Carera said in an interview with Radio Corsa.
That term has often been used due to the fact that the race's first mountain stage 9, after a 38-kilometer long flat individual time trial; and the race's queen stage comes only in the final week.
In all there are six mountain stages, whilst this year's hilly stages feature little chances of creating meaningful differences.
"Naturally, we want the suspense to last as long as possible," Tour director Christian Prudhomme said at the race presentation in Paris last week.
“We will never design a route for one rider. But we do design routes for types of riders. This time, we’re including more time trialing because we want to restore the balance [...] Among the very best time triallists, there is obviously Remco Evenepoel, but there is also Paul Seixas. Yes, I’m not going to hide that".
Tadej Pogacar is the main favourite for the 2027 Tour de France
Carera has not shared his insight performance wise, but has instead reaffirmed how the race sees Pogacar, and influence he has over the organizers' decision making when it comes to the route:
"I'll just say one thing: if every rider interviewed gets asked about Pogacar, if organizers are changing their routes to make things interesting against Tadej, and if sponsors keep referring to him, it means he matters enormously to cycling".
"Whether these time trials will put him in difficulty or not, we'll see. He's still the man to beat." The race will feature 71 kilometers of individual time trialing in total, almost fully pan-flat - favouring specialist Remco Evenepoel the most.
Tadej Pogacar has unfinished business for La Vuelta
What Pogacar had assured, and Carera reinstates, is the Slovenian's intent on returning to the Vuelta a España. "Tadej clearly has unfinished business with the Vuelta, and he doesn't like leaving things unfinished," he said.
This year, Pogacar appeared to be on course to win the overall classification, when a high-speed crash on stage 8 ended his race and his season altogether.
A Tour-World Championships-Vuelta combination is expected, as the Slovenian has already said. The Vuelta a España, the one Grand Tour not yet in his palmarès, is a major goal.
"However, the final decision on which stage races he will ride in 2027 will be made in December, when he joins the team in the UAE for a collective training camp. Tadej will sit down with all of UAE's sports directors, general manager Mauro Gianetti, and technical director Joxean Matxin. That will be the moment when they decide which race he will target in 2027".
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His schedule for the spring has not yet been decided, and this will happen within the coming months. However it is virtually certain that the Giro d'Italia - to be presented next week in Rome - is out of the equation.
"That said, if I had to make a prediction: I would say that a return to the Vuelta a España is more likely than a start at the Giro d'Italia."
Rúben SilvaEditor-in-Chief
A founding contributor to CyclingUpToDate since its launch in January 2022, Ruben Silva has played a central role in shaping the site’s editorial direction and long-term growth. Before joining the project, he built his experience through independent blogging at Echelons Hub and by producing race previews for Ciclismo Internacional, developing a strong analytical voice rooted in daily engagement with professional cycling.
Beyond editorial work, he has been closely involved in the expansion and coordination of CyclingUpToDate’s wider network, helping establish and support sister platforms across multiple languages. This includes ongoing collaboration with CiclismoAlDia (Spanish), CiclismoAtual (Portuguese), WielrennenUpToDate (Dutch), and RadsportAktuell (German), contributing to a shared editorial vision and consistent international coverage.
He also helps oversee editorial governance across the network, setting standards for accuracy and consistency and coordinating updates or corrections when needed.
Originally from the Porto metropolitan area in Portugal, he holds a bachelor’s degree in Geography. His path into cycling journalism was shaped not through formal media training, but through independent reporting, community engagement, and sustained on-the-ground involvement in the sport.
Over the course of his career, he has conducted approximately 100 interviews across road cycling and cyclocross, ranging from one-to-one conversations and online formats to press conferences and on-site pre- and post-race coverage. His interviews include leading riders, team managers, and prominent figures within cycling media: Tadej Pogacar, Jonas Vingegaard, Mathieu van der Poel, Primoz Roglic, Wout van Aert, Joao Almeida and Tom Pidcock; managers like Patrick Lefevere and Joxean Matxin; and YouTube personality Bryan Kennedy (BKXC)...
Within 18 months of launch, he helped grow CyclingUpToDate’s English-language platform into one of the most-read cycling news websites, built entirely from the ground up. As both a professional journalist and lifelong cycling enthusiast, his focus remains on delivering accurate, timely, and well-contextualized coverage.
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- An 'any excuse for CUTD to mention Pogacar' story 😁
leedorney30-10-2026 - As far as i saw the tour He dropped both Sexias and Remco on multiple stages even after the Giro, so rather they will be under pressure from him since he will be behind. He has already won the TDF, they haven't, he has nothing to lose.abstractengineer30-10-2026
- "Naturally, we want the suspense to last as long as possible," there is no suspense, we already know the result. If they design routes like this it will be like 2017 where Froome just win based on his TT and Uran just followed wheels into 2nd, a very horrible tour but times were pretty close by without major actions.abstractengineer30-10-2026
- Breakthrough win came from breakthrough tactics not breakthrough performance. Mcnulty will still be the same. Del Toro was inconsistent, at Dauphine he was good and at TDF he was struggling. He has not yet won any monument or GT, he will but he has not yet. None of them are close to pogi, >1 level down. Del Toro should not be at the TDF if he is going to slow down Pogi.abstractengineer30-10-2026
- same risk as every year. even if he crashes and breaks a collarbone or the like, there would be enough time to heal and regain fitness for the vuelta, which - although not the tour - is probably the more worthy season goal for his palmares.Ketterechts30-10-2026
- I Agree he should skip the tour, Pogi will win by 10 minutes, Remco will Crash and burn. Del Toro and Sexias will finish on the podium. THen they will again design for Jonasabstractengineer30-10-2026
- it's just that he won't be able to win the vuelta with pogi finishing up what he started this year.Ketterechts30-10-2026
- Wins from 20 different riders for the 3rd year in a row!Lozza30-10-2026
- 2023 was the triple year when Kuss won the Vuelta.Lozza30-10-2026
- If Pogi doesn’t win after taking his 5th TdF title, 3 monuments, 22 wins and finishing as UCI world no. 1 for the 6th year in a row, despite his crash, then it’ll be a total farce!Lozza30-10-2026
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