Pogačar wants to win the Vuelta without emptying the tank: “We have to be smart”

Tadej Pogačar returns to the Vuelta a España seven years later and does so with a very clear objective: to win the only Grand Tour still missing from his palmarès. The Slovenian arrives just a few weeks after conquering his fifth Tour de France and admits that he will have to find a balance between fighting for the red jersey and conserving energy for a season finale that still awaits him with the World Championships, the European Championships, and Il Lombardia.

Pogačar returns to the Vuelta seven years later

The Vuelta 2026 will kick off this Saturday in Monaco, practically at home for Pogačar, with an individual time trial of 9.4 kilometers. It will be the start of his second participation in a race that holds a special place in his career.

"It has been a short time since the Tour, but I think it has been enough for me to recover. The start is close to my home, and that is very nice. It is one of the challenges that I still have left, and I will give everything to achieve it", he explained before the start.

His only Vuelta so far was in 2019. At just 20 years old and during his first season as a professional, he won three stages, finished third overall, and took home the white jersey. That race was also his debut in a Grand Tour.

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"I have very nice memories of the 2019 Vuelta. Back then, I was a young kid. Now I approach races in a completely different way. It almost feels like this is my first Vuelta again".

Since then, his palmarès has changed radically. Pogačar has already won the Giro d'Italia and has just added his fifth Tour. The Vuelta is the only one of the three Grand Tours that he has not yet conquered.

"Winning all three Grand Tours has been a great goal and a dream for me for years. That is why it will be important to be in good shape here".

"It is never easy"

Despite starting as a big favorite, Pogačar rejected the idea that he might find a race easier than the Tour.

"I don't even know if it's worth answering that question", he said when asked about it. "There is enormous competition here and incredible talent at the start. It is going to be a very tough race, a difficult battle".

"I hope that everyone here is in their best shape. There are very, very good riders. It is never, never, never easy".

The first test will come from the opening day. Pogačar knows the roads of Monaco very well, but he believes that the short and technical layout of the time trial may favor more specialized riders.

"I know the roads really well. I pass through them on a motorcycle, in a car, on a bike, and walking. It will not be a time trial to go at 60 km/h all the time. You will have to brake and manage the effort in a different way".

That does not mean he will hold back.

"I am going to give it my all. The first stage will not be easy for me. There are riders who will be very fast and very technical. I will try, but it will be difficult".

The first mountains will mark his strategy

Pogačar acknowledges that he will need several stages to see how well he has recovered from the Tour. The mountains will appear soon, with Font Romeu on the third day and a short but demanding stage through Andorra the following day.

"I love racing in Spain. The atmosphere and the people are incredible. My legs feel good, but we will see how they respond starting from the fourth stage".

His performance during those first days will largely determine how the UAE Team Emirates-XRG will approach the rest of the race.

"I shouldn't finish the Vuelta completely wrecked"

Pogačar wants to win, but Granada will not be the end of his season. After the Vuelta, he still has three important objectives: World Championships, European Championships, and Il Lombardia. That schedule will necessarily influence how he manages the three weeks.

"I will have to see my form during the first stages. I am always thinking that I still have three big races after the Vuelta: Worlds, Europeans, and Lombardia".

And it was then that he perfectly summarized the balance he will need to find during the race:

"I shouldn't finish the Vuelta completely wrecked".

Pogačar does not talk about holding back or giving up opportunities, but rather about racing intelligently and avoiding unnecessary exertion.

"We have to be smart and make the best race possible during these three weeks. We will have to see in the first days how we approach the later stages".

Seven years after bursting onto the world cycling scene with that third place in 2019, Pogačar returns to the Vuelta as the main favorite and with a pending mission: to complete his collection of Grand Tours. But this time the challenge will not only be to arrive in red in Granada. He will also have to do it without completely emptying the tank before facing the last major objectives of his season.