A short, complete list of the races which Tadej Pogačar has entered and not won in 2026: Paris-Roubaix, and the Vuelta a España. At the former, the world champion finished second. At the latter, things were progressing normally – ie, the Slovenian was cruising to victory, four minutes ahead of his nearest rival – until he crashed on Saturday, proving that nothing is ever inevitable in cycling.
In the eyes of many cycling commentators, the Vuelta’s red jersey had been all but handed to the UAE Team Emirates-XRG rider before a pedal had been turned in anger, but after seven stages, things looked sewn up, with three stage wins, and a comfortable winning margin with two weeks still to go. Record books had been searched for the last rider to lead a race for all 21 days, and accounts of one of the all-time great years were being prepared. There had even been a scare on a descent on stage six, which Pogačar survived, because luck is always on his side. Until it wasn’t.
