Tadej Pogacar’s quest to complete cycling continues. Fresh from his record-equalling fifth Tour de France victory, a triumph so routine that he had the time and inclination to spend two Alpine stages looking after teammate Isaac del Toro’s podium chances rather than his own, Pogacar is set to return to the Vuelta a Espana for the first time since 2019.
At the time, the young Slovenian was relatively unknown, but that Vuelta – his debut grand tour – set him on the path to his era-defining dominance: three stage wins, the best young rider’s jersey, and third place overall made the world sit up and take notice. UAE Team Emirates fast-tracked him to the Tour de France the following year, where he won the first of his five titles (and counting) with an incredible raid on the penultimate day’s time trial.
