Tadej Pogačar will race the 2026 Vuelta a España, UAE Team Emirates-XRG confirmed on Monday morning, as he seeks to complete the Grand Tour triple.
The 27-year-old, who won his fifth Tour de France title last month, will be on the start line of the Spanish Grand Tour for the first time since 2019, when he finished third. Just three riders have won the Tour and Vuelta in the same year previously: Jacques Anquetil, Bernard Hinault and Chris Froome.
In a post on social media UAE wrote: "It’s true - he’s coming back. Tadej Pogačar to La Vuelta, confirmed.
"The former podium finisher returns to the Vuelta for the first time in seven years, leading a stellar lineup for our final Grand Tour of the season."
The Slovenian will be joined by João Almeida, Domen Novak, Ivo Oliveira, Pavel Sivakov, Pablo Torres, Kevin Vermaerke and Jay Vine in Spain.
The race begins on Saturday 22 August in Monaco, before a three weeks which is mostly spent in the south of Spain in Andalusia, with a finale in Granada.
"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. Spain is a country I love to visit and race in and I think the time is right to go back," Pogačar said on the team's website.
"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 will be the overwhelming favourite for the race. It will be just the second time in his career that he has raced two Grand Tours in one year, after he won both the Giro d'Italia and the Tour de France in 2024. He is then expected to target a third World Championships title in Canada after the Vuelta.
Last week, the Vuelta's race director, Javier Guillén, said: "The stages are very suitable for him to put on the show he's known for. And besides, coming to the Vuelta to win it is also a great springboard for him to repeat his victory as world champion in Canada. Therefore, this is the best year for Tadej to come."
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