Tadej Pogačar has confirmed that he will compete in the 2026 Vuelta a España, ending a seven-year absence from the race that first revealed the scale of his talent. The five-time Tour de France champion will lead UAE Team Emirates-XRG when the final Grand Tour of the season begins in Monaco on August 22.
According to UAE Team Emirates-XRG’s official squad announcement, Pogačar will be supported by João Almeida, Jay Vine, Pavel Sivakov, Pablo Torres, Kevin Vermaerke, Domen Novak and Ivo Oliveira. “I think the time is right to go back,” Pogačar said when confirming his return.
Seven years after his breakthrough
Pogačar’s only previous appearance at the Vuelta came in 2019, during his first season at WorldTour level. Still only 20, he won three stages, claimed the young rider classification and finished third overall behind Primož Roglič and Alejandro Valverde. It was the performance that transformed him from an emerging prospect into one of cycling’s most important young riders.
He has repeatedly considered returning since then, only to remove the race from his programme after demanding Tours or when preparing for other late-season targets. This time, however, he has committed to a second Grand Tour after completing the Tour in notably stronger condition than during some of his previous campaigns.
Read also: Arbeloa raids Real Madrid as Fulham complete ambitious double signing
“The motivation is high to finish off the year in a good way,” Pogačar added. His decision immediately changes the hierarchy of the Vuelta, with the reigning Tour champion expected to begin as the clear favourite for the red jersey.
The final Grand Tour missing from his career
A victory in Spain would complete Pogačar’s career set of all three men’s Grand Tours. His Giro d’Italia title came in 2024, when he also won the Tour de France, rather than during the current season. His fifth Tour victory arrived in Paris on July 26, 2026, following earlier wins in 2020, 2021, 2024 and 2025.
Only eight male riders have won the Giro, Tour and Vuelta during their careers: Jacques Anquetil, Felice Gimondi, Eddy Merckx, Bernard Hinault, Alberto Contador, Vincenzo Nibali, Chris Froome and Jonas Vingegaard. According to Cycling Weekly’s review of the exclusive group, Vingegaard became its eighth member by winning the 2026 Giro after previously taking two Tours and the 2025 Vuelta. Pogačar would become the ninth.
The Slovenian is also pursuing a different piece of history. Only Anquetil, Hinault and Froome have won the Tour and Vuelta in the same year, making the double a major achievement even without the additional significance of completing the career set.
Read also: Football’s $80 million club: The nine deals closing in on $1 billion
Vingegaard’s absence changes the race
Pogačar’s leading rival will not be present in Spain. Vingegaard crashed out of the Tour during stage 15 and suffered a fractured collarbone, bringing his season to a premature end. According to Team Visma-Lease a Bike’s report from the stage, the Dane was forced to abandon after falling during the closing section of the race.
His withdrawal also altered the final week of the Tour. Pogačar no longer had to respond to the sustained pressure normally created by his greatest Grand Tour rival and eventually finished 6 minutes and 26 seconds ahead of Remco Evenepoel. He won five stages on his way to a record-equalling fifth yellow jersey.
Vingegaard’s absence may have made the Vuelta more attractive, but neither Pogačar nor UAE has publicly identified it as the decisive reason behind the decision. The team has instead emphasised his motivation, the symbolic importance of returning to his first Grand Tour and the opportunity to close one of the final gaps in his palmarès.
A route designed to punish tired legs
The 2026 Vuelta begins with a nine-kilometre individual time trial in Monaco, where Pogačar lives. The race will then travel through France and Andorra before moving into Spain, with the decisive second half concentrated heavily in Andalusia.
Read also: Gianni Infantino's FIFA future in doubt as european nations turn against him
As described by La Vuelta’s official route presentation, the race covers 3,275 kilometres across 21 stages. The programme includes six mountain stages, a further uphill finish, two individual time trials and demanding summit finishes at Alto de Aitana, Calar Alto, La Pandera and Collado del Alguacil.
The penultimate stage finishes at Collado del Alguacil before the race concludes in Granada on September 13. Although Pogačar’s superiority makes him the natural favourite, the accumulated fatigue from the Tour and the repeated climbing tests could offer his rivals their best opportunity to expose a weakness.
UAE arrive with more than one leader
Pogačar will not be surrounded by a purely defensive support team. Almeida provides UAE with another genuine general-classification contender, while Vine and Sivakov offer proven climbing strength. The presence of several riders capable of winning mountain stages gives the team tactical options if rivals attempt to isolate its leader.
Spanish prospect Pablo Torres will make his Grand Tour debut, while Novak, Oliveira and Vermaerke complete a squad built to operate across different terrain. UAE’s selection suggests the team intends to control the race rather than merely wait for Pogačar to decide it on the steepest climbs.
Read also: Liverpool's pre-season collapse against Leeds sparks fan fury over one player
Almeida’s inclusion could be particularly important during the final week. He gives UAE a second rider whom rival teams cannot allow to gain significant time, potentially forcing them to chase attacks that would otherwise place the entire burden on Pogačar.
The World Championships wait two weeks later
The Vuelta is not Pogačar’s final major target of the season. The UCI Road World Championships will take place in Montréal from September 20 to 27, with the elite men’s road race scheduled for the final day. According to the UCI’s official event programme, the championships begin only one week after the Vuelta finishes.
That leaves exactly 14 days between the final stage in Granada and the men’s road race in Canada. Pogačar must therefore recover from three weeks of stage racing, travel across the Atlantic and prepare for a one-day event requiring a different physical and tactical approach.
The schedule carries an obvious risk, but it also reflects the extraordinary range of Pogačar’s ambitions. He is no longer simply collecting Tour victories. He is now pursuing the few major races that remain absent from one of the most complete records in modern cycling.
History waits in Granada
Pogačar returns to the Vuelta as a vastly different rider from the 20-year-old who attacked his way onto the podium in 2019. He now owns five Tour de France titles, a Giro victory, multiple world titles and a collection of Monument wins. Spain nevertheless represents unfinished business.
Winning would place him alongside the eight men who have conquered all three Grand Tours and make him only the fourth to complete the Tour-Vuelta double in one season. It would also bring his career back to the race where his transformation into a global star first began.
Seven years after announcing his arrival at the Vuelta, Pogačar is returning with a different purpose. This time, he is not going to reveal what he might become. He is going to complete what he has already built.
