Barring calamity, Tadej Pogacar will be standing on the podium in Granada in three weeks’ time clad in red. The Slovenian supremo is returning to the only grand tour he has yet to win for the first time in seven years. It was at this race in 2019 where he burst onto the scene, finishing third overall and winning three stages as well as the best young rider’s jersey, with compatriot Primoz Roglic winning the first of his four titles.
By the following summer, cycling’s hierarchy had already been upended, with Pogacar dethroning Roglic on the penultimate stage of the Tour de France for the first of his six grand tour victories. There is now no one in the peloton who is a realistic challenger to the two-time world champion, particularly on a parcours seemingly tailor-made for him.
