Pogacar to skip Vuelta after Tour de France triumph, targets Worlds and Canada
Fresh off securing his fourth Tour de France title, Tadej Pogacar will not race in the upcoming Vuelta a España, his UAE Team Emirates confirmed on Tuesday.
The 26-year-old Slovenian, who dominated this year’s Tour to add to victories in 2020, 2021, and 2024, will instead take a break before returning to competition in September.
“After such a demanding Tour, we decided it was best to take a break,” Pogacar said. “The Vuelta is a race I would dearly love to return to, but now the body is telling me to rest.”
Pogacar has fond memories of the Vuelta, where he finished third and won three stages in his Grand Tour debut in 2019. It remains the only Grand Tour he has yet to win, having claimed the Giro d’Italia on his debut last year.
His next targets will be the Canadian one-day races in Quebec and Montreal in mid-September, followed by the UCI Road World Championships in Rwanda.
“I’m excited to go back to Canada — the races are tough but beautiful, and they fit my style well,” he said. “I’ll be aiming to be back racing well for that part of the season and for the World Championships especially.”
This year’s Vuelta runs from August 23 to September 14, starting in Turin and finishing in Madrid.
(Source: AFP)
