"Tradition is holding this sport back" - Tadej Pogacar's proposal for Grand Tour overhaul backed by rider's union boss Adam Hansen

Tadej Pogacar’s call for a rethink of cycling’s Grand Tour calendar has received public support from Adam Hansen, who endorsed the idea in a post on X. The reaction adds immediate weight to Pogacar’s suggestion that the Giro d'Italia and Vuelta a Espana should swap places on the racing calendar due to weather conditions.

Pogacar said in quotes to AS, during UAE Team Emirates - XRG’s training camp in Gran Canaria: “I always say that if the Giro d’Italia and La Vuelta were swapped it would be much better, because of the weather conditions and because it would allow more riders to take part.”

Responding on X, Hansen wrote: “I've said this over the past years during the PCC and various other meetings. I was laughed at, but obviously they've never ridden the Giro in freezing rain and snow, or the Vuelta in scorching heat. That is the biggest problem in cycling, the tradition is holding the sport back.”

Hansen’s comment reflects a long-running theme inside the riders’ union, which he leads, regarding the physical demands created by extreme race conditions at both ends of the season.

Pogacar’s concerns relate to the long-standing challenge of targeting both the Tour de France and the Vuelta in the same year, something he has struggled to reconcile while aiming to complete his Grand Tour set in 2026.

His AS interview also included warm praise for Gran Canaria as a potential Vuelta host in future, though the island will not feature on the 2026 route.

Hansen’s intervention marks the strongest public alignment so far from a figure representing the riders’ collective interests.

With both one of the sport’s leading riders and the CPA president voicing similar concerns about the sequencing of the three-week races, the subject is likely to gain further attention, albeit it's likely too late to affect the 2026 planning discussions.