"Tadej Pogacar would have won this Vuelta by 15 minutes" - Questions posed of 2024 Vuelta a Espana's level of competition
Cycling
Last weekend in Madrid, Primoz Roglic bounced back from Tour de France disappointment to secure himself a record-equalling 4th Red Jersey win at the Vuelta a Espana. Given the absence of the likes of Jonas Vingegaard, Tadej Pogacar and Remco Evenepoel, how high actually was the level in Spain though?
This was a question posed on the Kop over Kop podcast by Eurosport. Despite the undoubted impressiveness of Roglic's 4th Red Jersey win, the Eurosport experts are quick to question whether the Roglic seen at the 2024 Vuelta a Espana would've been able to live with the likes of his compatriot Pogacar, had the UAE Team Emirates leader been present.
"Who was the best in this Vuelta? Pogacar would have won by fifteen minutes. It is actually a bit absurd to say that Pogacar could have won the Vuelta at 80 percent," begins Eurosport pundit Jan Hermsen. "There must be a reason why he didn't ride here. I actually thought Roglic was quite boring. Karsten Kroon also said that he knew he was going to win. The time trial was coming up and he knew exactly what to do."
Whilst Ben O'Connor's stage 6 breakaway raid did pose some danger to Roglic, Hermsen notes that other than that, there wasn't much to get excited about this Vuelta a Espana. "If that hadn't happened, what have we been watching? Mikel Landa attacks and loses minutes the next day, Enric Mas who is actually not good enough and UAE who occasionally shows nice things," he continues. "If you compare the Giro and the Vuelta side by side and you compare it to the Tour, then the level at the start is worrying. You have to be careful that the Giro does not also become a kind of preparation race. I was quite shocked that no rider could ride a Grand Tour for three weeks in a stable manner except Roglic."
"I find it remarkable that Pogacar can ride very stable and can ride two Grand Tours without having a bad day and that no one else can do it. Are those men that good or are the rest racing so naive? What have we seen in terms of attacks from the challengers?" Hermsen concludes.
Kieran WoodDeputy Editor-in-Chief
Kieran Wood is a sports journalist based in Wales and has been active in journalism since 2022. He regularly contributes to DartsNews.com and CyclingUpToDate.com, where he covers professional cycling and darts. In cycling, his work includes liveblogs from major races, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España, alongside race reports and analysis. He has also conducted interviews with professional riders.
His reporting spans the full racing calendar, from one-day classics to stage races, with a focus on accurate, real-time coverage and clear contextual analysis. For statistics, results, and historical context, he regularly uses resources such as ProCyclingStats. To support reporting on rider activity and training context where relevant, he also references Strava.
In his work, Kieran places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles as new, verified information becomes available.
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- i did not see it. was the relegation justified or an overly hard decision? and don‘t cross riders deviate from straight lines all the time? bumping into each others when they cut corners, etc … why being more strict with the rules on the finish sprint?Ketterechts08-11-2026
- seems like we are advertising the website with pointless comments…Ketterechts08-11-2026
- So?Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- The UCI do have their favorites.
Front24208-11-2026 - On a positive note, you maybe notice turning this topic into a discussion has the benefit of eliminating certain participants who do not see how they can turn it back to their sole interest ;-)Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
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- That may be but that was unknown to others and nothing says that’s the whole truth. Again, don’t try to misinterpret, it is a call and technically it is correct. Besides, even if there is a valid reason, that does not disqualify the ruling or punishment as far as the rules have been developed. I don’t think they’re as far as in football where for handball there is a distinction (in some ways and specific cases) between intentional or not. And football can be just as harsh and people live with it, eg the offside rule, also judged to within tiny fractions but often wrong or ignored. It’s the nature of every collective organisation and sometimes I wonder if our rebellion against it isn’t seated in the feelings we carry from the injustices we’ve felt personally, like being flashed driving 1km/h too fast when we are explained limits are just a security measure but we are absolutely certain not to have endangered anyone with our transgression. The problem is, nobody has better solutions and no 2 people have the same interpretation of where a limit should be.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
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