"The only Grand Tour he needs to further cement his legendary status" - Vuelta director makes the case for Pogacar return
Cycling
The return of Tadej Pogacar to the Vuelta a España has been something debated over the past few years, but ultimately his ambitions at the Tour de France and World Championships have gotten in the way. With two months left to the start, the question has risen again, and Javier Guillén has argued why Pogacar should be present.
After winning two world titles, it is plausible that this year the Slovenian would trade his usual preparation for the worlds and give a go at the Vuelta. Jonas Vingegaard has now won all three Grand Tours following his Giro d'Italia, adding this achievement to the palmarès before the Slovenian.
Recently at an altitude camp in Sierra Nevada, it was reported that Pogacar also rode up a few climbs that will be used at the Spanish Grand Tour - which will also finish in the very same area. Adding to the home start in Monaco, the perfect conditions are gathered to convince the UAE Team Emirates - XRG rider, whose presence would make a massive difference for the race.
Pogacar at La Vuelta?
But his participation is only a question that will be answered following the Tour de France. Javier Guillén, director of the race, knows this. But he also knows that the race has leverage, and Pogacar would in fact make history if he wins it this year.
"Pogacar's participation? It will all depend on how the Tour de France finishes," the Vuelta director said in words to Marca. "What's clear is that La Vuelta is the only Grand Tour he needs to further cement his legendary status."
Tadej Pogacar at the 2026 Tour de Suisse
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Andalucia finale brings worries about the weather
The race was initially meant to end in the Canary Islands with two stages in Gran Canaria and two in the island of Tenerife, where it would end in Santa Cruz. This was ultimately ruled out after last year's issues with Israel - Premier Tech.
The race will be going through the Mediterranean coast and the southeastern part of the nation throughout most of its course, and will end in Andalucia. There will be four more days in the southern region which is known for its extreme heat.
As talks of another extreme heat wave haunt the Spanish weather forecasts for the upcoming week, this is a question that was delivered to Guillén.
"The heat cannot prevent us from going to certain areas," he responded. "It is part of the competition and we must adapt to these conditions." In August and September, it is widely accepted that the riders will not be able to avoid it.
But with the extreme weather protocol in place, there is only so much that the peloton will be put through before the race's nature would change. "They are planned for cases of extreme temperatures. We are prepared and will evaluate each situation as it arises,” he assured.
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.
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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)...
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- He has already beaten Pogi twice in the TDF. the achievement is over. He cannot beat Pogi now and he only has a few years left at the top. Win Giro and compete in the TDF, maximise palmares.abstractengineer08-11-2026
- Just looked again at the photo. Yeah I stand by that. If MS had fallen over in Brands direction I don’t even think she would have hit her. You must be a UCI race commissioner. I’ll be sure to check my sock height should I ever see you on a ride. Looks like everyone else on here sees what I see.mij08-11-2026
- I said looking at the photo it doesn’t appear she deviated. Chill out, not stating my word is the final judgement. Just commenting that based on the photo I don’t see it. And BTW the Dutch coach even said she didn’t impede her.mij08-11-2026
- Blah Blah Blah !frieders308-11-2026
- MS said she was changing gears so that caused her slight deviation. Nothing was intentional.frieders308-11-2026
- How can you use a photo post incident to judge the incident itself (which is not hard to find if you’re prepared to invest the same amount of time in searching as writing that comment? It’s harsh but technically right even though this or worse is not always sanctioned in every race. The two things that went against MS (who unfortunately for her would still have won without making her mistake) are that it was not a bunch sprint where there could have been an overlooked incident or mitigating circumstances explaining a deviation. Everything was focused on just those 2, Schreiber was riding beautifully balanced which made her sudden deviation look unnatural stroke as if it could have been in some part intentional whilst she was slowly drifting ever closer towards the barrier to a point that would have reached obstruction level. In her defence, it might have been the realisation she was heading towards that that made her react suddenly and caused the deviation involuntarily. In any case, congratulations to her for the ride of her life, in people’s minds she will be credited for it.Jumpyjohn07-11-2026
- Good boy Obviously doesn’t need that much help dealing with pressure, as some have suggested. Wiser (and humbler) than many far further along their careers. About offering him the moon, recently someone came up with an explanation of the downfall of a football great (either referring to Maradona or Portuguese Ronaldo) saying it was kind of normal after coming back from the moon, except that others, including some who actually did go to the moon like Armstrong (Neil in case anyone is too switched off to realise) didn’t go through any of the same motions after coming back. A lot of how you deal with situations has less to do with the situation than with your character.Jumpyjohn07-11-2026
- I think that they're not really used to dealing with this type of incident in a cyclocross race, and the situation has been magnified because it was a race for a championship title. It's very unfortunate that the race had to be decided in this way.
santiagobenites07-11-2026 - Seriously why do they keep doing stupid things like this. Its one thing to relegate when the placings are minor, when the action is blatant. But when it is ambiguous, why dont they at least take advice from some higher up to avoid embarrassing themselves. This is similar to the Halland goal when his teammate was clearly offside and interfered in play and VAR gave them the goal. if you dont have evidence you cannot convict. Even for doping they have these rulesabstractengineer07-11-2026
- So all those who went to watch, including all from abroad, waled there, spent nothing? Most places hosting events of the sort manage to make it worthwhile. If it was so obviously fruitless, don’t you think by now they’d have run out of hosting candidates? Why do you think the Tour can command such high prices for departure and arrival locations? If it didn’t bring anything locally they’d have to pay to get authorisation to use cities.Jumpyjohn07-11-2026
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