Report suggests Tadej Pogacar has already decided to race Vuelta a Espana
Cycling
It was an open secret. However, UAE Team Emirates - XRG have not obviously been too secretive when it comes to Tadej Pogacar's schedule this season. Almost everyone knows that he is set to race the Vuelta a España, however a report now suggests this was already confirmed within the team.
The news was brought forward by journalist Ciro Scognamiglio of La Gazzeta dello Sport: "It wasn't a secret at all. UAE Team Emirates XRG sources have confirmed to us that, after the Tour de France, Pogacar will be at the start of the Vuelta a España six years after his first and only participation."
Thus, fans will be able to enjoy a double challenge Tadej Pogacar vs Jonas Vingegaard on 2 of the 3 Grand Tours of cycling in 2025, as before La Vuelta they will face each other for the fifth time in the Tour.
For Pogacar, the decision is quite logical. After achieving the Giro d'Italia - Tour de France double in 2024, going it alone for the Grande Boucle in 2025 felt unambitious. After having the best individual year in cycling history, the world champion will want to win the only Grand Tour he hasn't so far and there is little reason to delay a return to the Spanish Grand Tour.
The Vuelta a España is not yet in his palmares, so it was clear that sooner or later he was going to try it. The only time he participated was 6 years ago. In that 2019 edition, a very young Pogacar finished 3rd overall, only behind Primoz Roglic and Alejandro Valverde, as well as winning three stages. It was his first-ever Grand Tour.
As to whether he will make his debut in Paris-Roubaix this year, rumors and statements remain contradictory. Pogacar has yet to test himself in the Hell of the North. It's another race he has yet to add to his long list of successes. Everything points to the fact that we will have to wait at least until he races Milano-Sanremo, next March 22, to know his final decision.
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Info @Gazzetta_it It's not at all a secret, anyway @TeamEmiratesUAE sources confirmed us that after @LeTour this year @TamauPogi will be at the start of @lavuelta six years after his first (and so far only) participation @cycling_podcast
— Ciro Scognamiglio (@cirogazzetta) March 2, 2025
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- Excellent work and show from all of them, glad to see van Aert got back to shape in time. Bring on P-RMistermaumau06-04-2025
- All this seems right but the problem is that two riders of differing weight going at the same speed will have different power and they will also have different power per weight yet are both (in theory, i.e. when trying their hardest) at their max,which means the lighter one is proportionally losing more to the wind (working harder to overcome), the heavier one proportionally losing more to rolling resistance and bounce. The extremely difficult calculations to know which of the 2-3 causes the bigger effect under what exact conditions is what makes it impossible to say who will benefit most in many situations when they aren’t different enough to make it obvious, i.e. a puny climber of 50kg vs a sprinter of 80kg on either the flat or a mountain.Mistermaumau06-04-2025
- Far more tension than expected, the other teams really worked Pogacar over as much as can be expected, they kept getting away and getting caught, and he launched later than I thought he would. And still, here is Monument 8, he’s now won at least twice in every one he has won. Excellent job for Pederson and Ganna amongst all the other results. What a race!RidesHills06-04-2025
- If you throw 2 identical golf balls at the same speed, but one is twice the weight, it will go a bit farther (wind resistance is the same, so the amount of energy of the heavier ball is higher). If you throw 2 identical golf balls at the same power, but one is twice the weight, it will go less far (the amount of energy is the same, so the lighter one is going faster). Remember that in a flat TT, once up to speed, the amount of weight is basically negligible (except a tiny amount of increase in rolling resistance). It's all power vs CdA. Probably the best way to think about this is with a truck (with a covered bed) over a flat but very bumpy road, and ideal tire pressure for the weight. Now, load the truck up to 3X the mass, change the tire pressure to the new ideal pressure, and do the run again. What will take the most amount of power? It's quite obvious that it's the run with the more mass. (Many of us have done this test in real world conditions without realizing it.) Why? Because there's deformation loss to the tire, which is somewhat worse when there's more mass, but there's also the loss from having to lift that much more weight over and over again.acem8206-04-2025
- ...Cause cycling at this level is always about the compromise of weight vs power. Pogacar could be stronger at a higher power, but his power to weight ratio would suffer. All else held equal is very important to understand they physics here, but that's *never* how cycling actually works.acem8206-04-2025
- The truth is already out pendejo and you were caught.
MrCampy06-04-2025 - So why did Tadej say, in an interview, when he won Flanders and was asked if he would try Roubaix next, that he would need to gain more body weight before he thinks of Roubaix? Tadej weighs 25 lbs. lighter than MVDP, last I checked.FredMan06-04-2025
- This is a race Brandon McNulty can win if his form has improved. I'll be pulling for him.awp06-04-2025
- I don’t know how generalised it is but in every race in every country I’ve participated in you either need to show a club licence (which you only get by having a medical around every 2-3 years) or by having a doctors’ aptitude certificate. Can’t ask for much more. Don’t forget, 15000 people (of which quite some are well into the latter part of life), that’s a small town where people will have medical issues every day even without cycling hard. In one country I lived in you even have to do a full ECG and power test regularly to ride competitively after 50.Mistermaumau05-04-2025
- Before or after their kids get married to each other ;-)Mistermaumau05-04-2025