Tadej Pogačar Confirmed For Vuelta a España as 2026 Demolition Derby Continues

Tadej Pogačar is confirmed for the 2026 Vuelta a España.

After much speculation, UAE Emirates-XRG revealed Monday morning that the 27-year-old will double back from his fifth Tour de France victory to line up for the Spanish tour on August 22.

Pogačar first burst onto the grand tour scene in 2019 when he debuted at the Vuelta as a baby-faced phenom. Then only 20, he won three stages, the young rider’s jersey, and placed third overall.

He’ll return to the race for the first time this summer with dramatically higher ambitions.

The Vuelta a España is one of the few races the Slovenian super-cyclist needs to check off his to-do list as he stampedes through pro cycling with the ambition to win everything. 

He’ll follow Jonas Vingegaard in completing “the grand tour grand slam” if he adds the red jersey to his palmarès on September 13.

“I’m excited to say I’m going back to La Vuelta. It was my first ever grand tour back in 2019 and an amazing experience,” Pogačar said Monday in a team note. “Spain is a country I love to visit and race in and I think the time is right to go back.

“The motivation is high to finish off the year in a good way and the Vuelta will be a big target. The team is strong, and we hope to do good things.”

Pogačar is expected to back up the Vuelta a España with his road world title defense in Montréal in September.

Back to where it all began for Pogačar

Pogačar is expected to face off against four-time Vuelta a España champion Primož Roglič in the race for the red jersey.

Felix Gall, Mattias Skjelmose and Cian Uijtdebroeks are other key GC names on the rumored startlist. None of Remco Evenepoel, Jonas Vingegaard, or Paul Seixas are expected to be doubling the recent Tour de France with three weeks in Spain.

After ruling the Tour de France with an iron fist and winning a record-equalling fifth yellow jersey, Pogačar will line up for the Monaco gran salida later this month as super-favorite.

In fact, Pogčar’s most serious opposition might be his own teammate João Almeida. The Portuguese star was also confirmed for the Vuelta a España by team UAE on Monday.

Pogačar and Almeida will be joined by Jay Vine, Pavel Sivakov, Pablo Torres, Domen Novak, Ivo Oliveira, and USA’s Kevin Vermaerke. The 20-year-old phenom Torres is touted to be a new Pogačar in the making.

The confirmation on Monday ends years of speculation over when Pogačar will return to the Vuelta a España.

It’s been in the cards since race organizers went on bended knee by revealing Monaco – Pogačar’s home-from-home – as the host of the race’s foreign start for 2026.

Pogačar was set to race the Vuelta last summer after the Tour de France, but fatigue and a knee injury thwarted his plans.

There doesn’t seem to be any stopping him this time around.