"I think the time is right to go back" - Tadej Pogacar lines up Grand Tour treble history as Vuelta a Espana participation officially confirmed
CyclingMonday, 03 August 2026 at 11:33
Tadej Pogacar knew the time was right to make his Vuelta a Espana return in 2026. With a start on his doorstep in Monaco and a reasonably fresh finish to the Tour de France, the stars aligned for the world champion to return to the Spanish Grand Tour.
UAE Team Emirates - XRG confirmed their crown jewel's return to the race on Monday morning, ending weeks of speculation as the organisers, Pogacar himself and even the Prince of Monaco speculated that he would be at the August 22nd start.
And he will be hot favourite to take his first-ever La Vuelta crown, with his only other attempt being in 2019. Just less than a year before he'd announce himself as cycling's record-breaking superstar in wait, pogacar took three stage wins and a third place as he marked himself as a future contender.
Five Tour de France titles and one Giro crown later, the Vuelta is all that remains in terms of Grand Tours for Pogacar to conquer. 58,000 meters of climbing, seven summit finishes and two time trials stand in his way of joining an elite club of winners of all three Grand Tours.
Time is right for Vuelta return
“I’m excited to say I’m going back to La Vuelta," Pogacar said in a team announcement.
"It was my first ever Grand Tour back in 2019 and an amazing experience. Spain is a country I love to visit and race in and I think the time is right to go back."
Pogacar has good memories in the Iberian Peninsula and indicated that he can combine the race with other end-of-season goals. One of the major factors around the speculation of La Vuelta surrounded the World Championships.
Tadej Pogacar at the 2026 Tour de France
Pogacar wants to finish year off with Vuelta and World Championships
With La Vuelta finishing on September 13th and the World Championships beginning on September 27th, a short window of two weeks beckons for him to re-focus on winning a third rainbow jersey in a row.
“The motivation is high to finish off the year in a good way and the Vuelta will be a big target. The team is strong and we hope to do good things.”
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Pogacar's history-chasing support include João Almeida, Jay Vine, Pavel Sivakov, Pablo Torres, Kevin Vermaerke, Domen Novak and Ivo Oliveira.
Almeida will be Pogacar's right hand man in the high mountains, and although missing out on full leadership as initially planned had the Slovenian stayed at home, the Portugeuse rider can still be expected to be amongst the general classification fight.
Gavin QuinnCycling Journalist
Gavin Quinn is a cycling journalist and ultra-distance cyclist with a BA in Journalism from Dublin City University. Formerly the Press & Communications Officer for Cycling Ireland, Gavin has worked inside the national team at the World Championships and has reported for the Irish Mirror, Mirror UK, and The42.
His expertise is backed by elite-level access, having interviewed stars like Sam Bennett and Ben Healy, as well as immense personal endurance. In 2025, he completed a 12,000km solo cycle from Ireland to Vietnam, following a 4,600km tour across Europe. From the cobbles of Paris-Roubaix to the gradients of the Tourmalet, Gavin’s writing focuses on the "romance and brutality" of the sport. Having visited 50+ countries, he brings a global, cultural perspective to his coverage of the pro peloton for CyclingUpToDate.
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- Manosphere? You mean guys like Andrew or frieder6? Yeah, I guess they do have anti-feminist views, strict ideas about masculinity, and hostility toward women.PogiSloFans03-08-2026
- Good for Pogi, I think he can do it. But just two weeks to recover for the world championships road race might be difficult right after two grand tours. Maybe Remco takes the rainbow jersey then, if he specifically prepares for it.Ride197403-08-2026
- Cyclinguptodate: "Their relationship, between Pogi and Jonas, may be friendlier away from racing, but another fight for the yellow jersey remains firmly in Vingegaard’s plans." I don't think so, his wife Trine is saying something completely different. My take is: Jonas knows, Team Visma knows, Trine knows, that never again will Jonas beat Pogi in TdF. Yes, if Pogi crashes and hurts himself, or if he gets ill, it can happen, but does Jonas really want to win in such a way? I don't think so. Jonas has won all three Grand Tours (btw Pogi will win them this year)... Jonas won most of the big one week stage races. So what's left for him? Nothing. Jonas racing and beating cyclists that are not Pogi means nothing to him. I know he's thinkig about retirement. Don't blame him... he has nothing to prove to anyone. Ad acta.PogiSloFans03-08-2026
- All because you recruited the wrong riders for a large sum of money. Scouting is bad.abstractengineer03-08-2026
- Cyclinguptodate: "Their relationship, between Pogi and Jonas, may be friendlier away from racing, but another fight for the yellow jersey remains firmly in Vingegaard’s plans." I don't think so, his wife Trine is saying something completely different: "If Jonas said he didn’t want to race again, I would understand, but I also do not know which races would be the obvious ones for him. And I have no idea how he will recover from that collarbone injury. When you look at his season as a whole, it is clear that you are very drained. You are constantly switched on, and when you are an introvert like he is, that takes energy out of him. Objectively speaking, riding two Grand Tours is also a huge achievement, with a lot of race days and a great deal of time spent away.” My take is: Jonas knows, Team Visma knows, Trine knows, that never again will Jonas beat Pogi. Yes, if Pogi crashes and hurts himself, or if Pogi gets ill, it can all happen, then Jonas can win, but we all know what kind of win that would be. Jonas has won all three Grand Tours (Pogi will win them this year)... Jonas won most of the big one week stage races. So what's left for him? Nothing. Jonas racing and beating cyclists that are not Pogi means nothing to him. I think Jonas is thinkig about retirement. Don't blame him... he has nothing to prove to anyone.PogiSloFans03-08-2026
- A shadow of their former self..
leedorney03-08-2026 - From what Jonas has said recently as well, maybe in hindsight they think he should have resisted the pressure in 2024 to go for three Tour wins in a row, and instead taken all the time he needed to recover fully from his Itzulia crash before racing again. That effort may have set him further back in the long run. It was painful to watch him making such efforts with so little muscle mass, and almost fainting at the end of the Galibier downhill on Stage 4.Hills3303-08-2026
- I mean she probably doesn't want to see her loved one destroy his body. As well as I'm sure she would love to have him help raise their young children and be present in their lives. Cycling is wonderful but is by no means the most important thing in life.bruins3003-08-2026
- Pog is still the favourite but remco is 100% the next best and pogs main rival here, and may surprise pog especially on this coursebruins3003-08-2026
- NOmij03-08-2026
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