Let\u2019s face it, the Vuelta a Espa\u00f1a probably isn\u2019t going to have much suspense at the top of the GC with Tadej Poga\u010dar back in the race.<\/p>\n
If recent history is any guide, Pog will show up in Monaco and bulldoze everyone. He will pile up stage wins, spend nearly all of three weeks in red, and maybe even run this thing tape-to-tape.<\/p>\n
But don\u2019t think for a minute this Vuelta is going to be boring or predictable.<\/p>\n
Tadej freakin\u2019<\/em> Poga\u010dar is racing. This Vuelta could be off the charts.<\/p>\n Almost any race is better with the Slovenian superstar on the start line. He might suck some suspense out of the GC, but predictable? Baaah<\/em>, Pogi is never that.<\/p>\n Cycling\u2019s biggest star still races on instinct, emotion, and enough chutzpah<\/em> to keep things interesting.<\/p>\n There might not be Jonas Vingegaard here or a hyper-ambitious Remco Evenepoel, but in a funny way, Poga\u010dar dominating the GC all alone might actually make the rest of the race way more aggressive.<\/p>\n And this is the Vuelta. Weird things happen. It comes late in a long season, the heat can be brutal, and legs can turn to toast by September.<\/p>\n Poga\u010dar hasn\u2019t exactly owned Spain, either. Itzulia Basque Country remains one of the few major stage races he has never won and he hasn\u2019t raced here since 2024.<\/p>\n Yes, Pog will absolutely want to win this Vuelta, and he will shape and dominate this race in ways to make it way more intriguing than if he were not here.<\/p>\n The only real question is how much destruction he feels like causing along the way.<\/p>\n Here\u2019s why this Vuelta will be even better with Pog in full demolition mode:<\/p>\n I don\u2019t have an inside line to Pog, but one can imagine that Mattias Skjelmose and Enric Mas probably aren\u2019t causing Poga\u010dar any sleepless nights. That\u2019s not a knock on either of them.<\/p>\n Right now, outside of a few one-off days in the classics, Poga\u010dar pretty much has everyone\u2019s number.<\/p>\n We are now watching the totality of Pogi\u2019s burning star. This is peak Poga\u010dar, that rare stretch when one rider is simply better than everyone else. Think Greg LeMond before the hunting accident or Mark Cavendish reeling off 20-win-plus seasons.<\/p>\n These eras don\u2019t last forever. Let\u2019s enjoy this Vuelta for what it is.<\/p>\n I\u2019d much rather watch this Vuelta with Poga\u010dar ripping around Spain for the next three weeks than watching Enric Mas and Mikel Landa slug it out for best Spanish rider honors.<\/p>\n It should be a hell of a show for everyone except, perhaps, the riders trying to hold his wheel.<\/p>\n Poga\u010dar could be a like cat playing with a mouse during this Vuelta, and the fun starts right in his backyard in his adopted Monaco home.<\/p>\n The Monte Carlo TT also creates an interesting early quandary. Even on the short, explosive, almost prologue-like distance of 9.4km, Poga\u010dar could conceivably leave stage 1 already wearing red.<\/p>\n But does UAE really want to defend the Vuelta for the next 20 stages?<\/p>\n Maybe Pog smokes Monaco because Pog cannot help being Pog, especially on home roads. Then UAE spends the next few days trying to slip red onto the shoulders of some lucky rider in the breakaway.<\/p>\n The problem? The route rolls through Andorra on stage 4 and hits the first major summit finish on stage 7, and Poga\u010dar could be right back in red anyway.<\/p>\n Or maybe he simply says, screw it, let\u2019s go tape-to-tape<\/em> in red.<\/p>\n How ugly this gets for everyone else will depend partly on how Poga\u010dar feels and just how deep he wants to dig.<\/p>\n The world championships loom only two weeks after the Vuelta finishes in Granada on September 13.<\/p>\n There\u2019s the brutal Spanish heat, three weeks of racing, the long flight to Canada, and then the small matter of trying to win a record-tying third rainbow jersey.<\/p>\n Poga\u010dar will definitely have one eye on Montr\u00e9al across the entire race. He won\u2019t want to bury himself in Spain chasing every stage win.<\/p>\n Then again, he\u2019s not going to leave the Vuelta hanging in the balance just to save a little extra for worlds.<\/p>\n Finding that balance between winning the Vuelta by absolutely torching it or perhaps leaving a little in the tank could become one of the most interesting Pog storylines of the race.<\/p>\n Another question is how hungry will Poga\u010dar be when he rolls into Monaco?<\/p>\n This is a climber\u2019s grand tour, with more than 58,000 meters of vertical, seven summit finishes, two time trials, and a couple more uphill kickers thrown in for good measure.<\/p>\n In other words, there are a lot of ways for Pogi to win during this Vuelta. But even full-demolition Pog won\u2019t get near Freddy Maertens\u2019 absurd record of 13 stage wins from 1977.<\/p>\n His grand tour high is six stage wins, set at both the 2024 Giro and 2024 Tour. He won five more at the Tour this July and probably left another two or three on the road while helping teammate Isaac del Toro reach the podium.<\/p>\n If a hungry Pog shows up in Spain, six wins feels entirely realistic. Maybe even more.<\/p>\n He already owns 35 career grand tour stage wins. Don\u2019t be surprised if he blasts straight through 40 before reaching Granada.<\/p>\n When he sniffs a finish line, Pogi rarely holds back. Why change now?<\/p>\n If Pog is safely parked at the top of the GC, the fight behind him could turn into an absolute brawl.<\/p>\n And there\u2019s no shame in finishing second to the best rider of this century. And for a bunch of riders and teams, Granada represents the last chance to put a big GC result on the board in 2026.<\/p>\n Skjelmose, Oscar Onley, Carlos Rodr\u00edguez, Matthew Riccitello, and Cian Uijtdebroeks are all chasing a first career grand tour podium. Then there are proven podium finishers such as Mas, Richard Carapaz, and Felix Gall, plus aging war horses Mikel Landa and Primo\u017e Rogli\u010d.<\/p>\n None of them are Pog level, but racing between themselves, things could get interesting.<\/p>\n The tactics could get wild, too. Once everyone stops dreaming about taking time on Poga\u010dar, they can start working on destroying each other.<\/p>\n First among the mortals? That\u2019s still a hell of a prize to take out of this Pog Vuelta.<\/p>\n Here\u2019s something Poga\u010dar still has never won \u2014 a points jersey at a grand tour.<\/p>\n He finished second in the competition in his Vuelta debut in 2019 and again at the Tour in 2025. Tour officials even changed the points system this year, in part to tilt the competition back toward the sprinters.<\/p>\n The Vuelta could be different. With so many uphill finishes suited to Poga\u010dar, he could find himself in the green jersey hunt without really trying.<\/p>\n And once the GC is locked down? It\u2019s not hard to imagine Pog deciding to chase green simply because he can<\/em>.<\/p>\n A few intermediate sprints here, another stage win there, maybe it could turn it into a fun side quest to keep himself entertained for three weeks.<\/p>\n This also could be the Vuelta where we really see Poga\u010dar rule the peloton as its patron<\/em>.<\/p>\n Cycling\u2019s old school patron<\/em> might not exist anymore in today\u2019s less-toxic peloton, but all the ingredients are here during this Vuelta for Pogi to play the boss.<\/p>\n UAE will bring the only team strong enough to control the race almost whenever it wants. Once Poga\u010dar has red and a comfortable cushion, the shape of the Vuelta could come down largely to what he wants to do on any given stage.<\/p>\n That\u2019s the power of being the boss.<\/p>\n Poga\u010dar is generally very generous with the peloton and it\u2019s unlikely we\u2019d ever see Pogi throwing punches at striking miners, a la Bernard Hinault<\/em>.<\/p>\n But he could spend the next three weeks deciding how everyone else gets to race the 2026 Vuelta.<\/p>\n The question every morning in the UAE team meeting could be pretty simple \u2014 what does Pog feel like doing today<\/em>?<\/p>\n Of course, the first flag hasn\u2019t even dropped yet. Poga\u010dar still has to get through 21 stages and three weeks of Spanish heat with his bike, mind, and body intact.<\/p>\n Crashes, punctures, mental and physical fatigue, and illness can turn any grand tour upside down overnight.<\/p>\n We haven\u2019t really seen Poga\u010dar crack since the Tours of 2022 and 2023, and he\u2019s been operating on another level ever since. But nothing is guaranteed in bike racing.<\/p>\n In fact, Poga\u010dar has become so dominant that even the smallest sign of vulnerability would blow up social media.<\/p>\n Will it happen? I doubt it. Some pundits say Pogi could win this Vuelta on a pogo stick.<\/p>\n But that\u2019s why they still have to race the thing.<\/p>\n And finally, La Vuelta has never seen this version of Tadej Poga\u010dar.<\/p>\n The last time he raced the Vuelta was 2019, when he was a 20-year-old even-more-baby-faced neo-pro winning three stages and finishing third in his grand tour debut.<\/p>\n Seven years later, he returns as a five-time Tour winner, Giro champion, two-time world champion, and the biggest star in cycling.<\/p>\n That alone will change the feel of this Vuelta.<\/p>\n The Spanish fans will go nuts. In fact, he hasn\u2019t raced on Spanish roads since winning the 2024 Volta a Catalunya.<\/p>\n La Vuelta doesn\u2019t need Poga\u010dar to be worth watching. It\u2019s one of cycling\u2019s three grand tours, and this year it serves up the most vertical of all three.<\/p>\n But having the biggest rider of this generation back for the first time in seven years? That turns up the hype on everything in this race.<\/p>\n The Pog Show is coming back to La Vuelta. Don\u2019t think for a minute this Vuelta is going to be boring.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n [analyse_source url=”https:\/\/velo.outsideonline.com\/road\/road-racing\/vuelta-a-espana\/tadej-pogacar-vuelta-a-espana-2026\/”]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" [analyse_image type=”featured” src=”https:\/\/velo-cdn.outsideonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Z8A_2470.jpg”] Andrew Hood Updated August 17, 2026 12:33PM Let\u2019s face it, the Vuelta a Espa\u00f1a probably isn\u2019t going to have much suspense at the top of the GC with Tadej Poga\u010dar back in the race. If recent history is any guide, Pog will show up in Monaco and bulldoze everyone. He will pile […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[226,71],"class_list":["post-2099027","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics","tag-crawlmanager","tag-velo-outsideonline-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2099027","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2099027"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2099027\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2099027"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2099027"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2099027"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Peak Poga\u010dar: Let\u2019s enjoy the show<\/h2>\n
![\"Poga\u010dar](\"https:\/\/velo-cdn.outsideonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Z8A_3857-2-1200x922.jpg?width=3840&auto=webp&quality=75&fit=cover\")
Does he want red on day one?<\/h2>\n
How deep does he want to go?<\/h2>\n
How many stages can Pogi win?<\/h2>\n
First among mortals<\/h2>\n
![\"Richard](\"https:\/\/velo-cdn.outsideonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Z8B_9373-1200x750.jpg?width=3840&auto=webp&quality=75&fit=cover\")
What about the points jersey?<\/h2>\n
A chance to see Pog the patron<\/em><\/h2>\n
![\"Remco](\"https:\/\/velo-cdn.outsideonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Z8A_0858-1-1200x1136.jpg?width=3840&auto=webp&quality=75&fit=cover\")
What could go wrong?<\/h2>\n
The Pog Show returns<\/h2>\n