“We all want him. This championship was organised with Tadej Pogacar in mind” - Slovenian organisers refuse to rule out astonishing Euros comeback despite UAE denial

UAE Team Emirates-XRG may be "absolutely adamant" that Tadej Pogacar's 2026 season is over, but back home in Slovenia the door to an astonishing European Championship return has not been closed quite so firmly.

Pogacar's name appearing on the wider entry list for next month's championships had already sparked surprise given the injuries that ended his Vuelta a Espana. UAE quickly played down the prospect of a comeback, describing the listing as "probably an old list" and stressing that there are "no plans for him to ride any more races this year."

Yet the tone from inside the Slovenian organisation is noticeably less final. "We all want him. This championship was also organised with Tadej Pogacar in mind," European Championships general secretary Tomaž Poljanec admitted to Siol as preparations for the biggest cycling event ever staged in Slovenia enter their final phase.

Pogacar was entered before his Vuelta crash and remains on the wider preliminary list from which national coach Uroš Murn will eventually select eight riders for the elite men's road race.

Poljanec stopped well short of predicting that the world champion will make the start, but equally resisted ruling it out himself. "Who will be among the eight is for the coach to decide. Of course we would all like Tadej, but I think the right thing is to listen first to the experts and the doctors, so I would rather not speculate," he said.

Pogacar won the European road race title for the first time in 2025 and had been due to defend it on home roads this October. The elite men's race on 4 October will run from Ljubljana to Šenčur, with the decisive finishing circuit including repeated ascents of Možjanca.

His late-season programme was wiped out by the crash that ended his Vuelta on stage 8. Pogacar suffered a displaced fracture of his left collarbone, a stable C7 cervical fracture and concussion, forcing him out while wearing the red jersey and ending plans to race the World Championships, European Championships and Il Lombardia.

UAE subsequently confirmed that his season was over, while respected journalist Daniel Friebe reported that the "Pogačar camp - team and manager" were "absolutely adamant" there would be no return before 2027.

Poljanec's latest comments nevertheless leave one important question unresolved: if Pogacar does make it to the championships, what exactly will his role be? "I don't have that information yet. I think Tadej will be in Slovenia, but at the moment we still don't have complete information about what role he might have," he said.

That could ultimately mean nothing more than Pogacar attending his home championships away from the bike, but Slovenia's organisers are clearly not rushing to close down every possibility while the medical picture continues to develop.

Pogacar has already resumed light indoor training, although UAE have been clear that this should not be mistaken for preparation for a racing comeback. For the organisers, the more immediate task is preparing for the likelihood that the rider around whom much of the anticipation had naturally been built will not be on the start line.

"Ultimately, we don't only have Tadej. Of course his injury is a blow for us personally, but from an organisational point of view everything remains the same," Poljanec said. "The Slovenian riders will still race in Slovenian colours. We have several other extremely strong and competitive cyclists. I think the race will still be very interesting and we can expect the Slovenian representatives to fight all the way to the finish for the best possible result."

Primoz Roglic, Matej Mohoric, Jakob Omrzel and Luka Mezgec are among the other Slovenian names on the wider list, with Mezgec set to bring his professional career to an end at the home championships.

For now, UAE's position remains unchanged and a Pogacar racing comeback would require a dramatic late reversal. But with the championships built partly around Slovenia's biggest star, his name still on the wider list and organisers refusing to speculate beyond the advice of doctors and specialists, the home side has not completely abandoned hope just yet.