UAE Team Emirates-XRG rider Tadej Pogacar has confirmed he will be returning to the Vuelta a Espana for only the second time in his career.
Pogacar, who secured a record-equalling fifth Tour de France crown on July 26, will now set his sights on winning one of the few races he has yet to taste victory in.
Victory in Spain – the race begins on August 26 – would mean he becomes only the ninth rider to have won all three Grand Tours, with the Slovenian having also won the Giro d'Italia in 2024.
Pogacar's old rival Jonas Vingegaard achieved the feat earlier this year when he topped the podium at this year's Giro.
Only three riders have won the Tour and Vuelta in the same year - Jacques Anquetil, Bernard Hinault and Chris Froome. Briton Froome is the only rider to do it in the modern era which has seen the race move from spring to late summer.
The only other time he took part in the Vuelta was when he made his three-week race debut there back in 2019 as a 20-year-old. Pogacar secured victory in three stages as he announced his Grand Tour arrival in style, winning the best young rider's white jersey.
He will be supported by a strong UAE Team Emirates-XRG line-up in Spain which includes Joao Almeida, Jay Vine, Pavel Sivakov, Pablo Torres, Kevin Vermaerke, Domen Novak and Ivo Oliveira.
The opening stage is an individual time-trial around his adopted home in Monaco before heading through France and Andorra to Spain.
The opening seven days include demanding mountain tests at Font Romeu and Aramon Valdelinares, while iconic climbs such as Alto de Aitana, Calar Alto, La Pandera and the queen stage to Collado del Alguacil will likely decide the red-jersey battle in the final week.
“I’m excited to say I’m going back to La Vuelta,” Pogacar said in a statement on Monday. “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.
“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.”
Portuguese rider Almeida is being welcomed back into action at this week's Tour of Poland and will be a key part of the Emirati team in Spain, having seen his season badly hampered by a virus. Young Spaniard Pablo Torres makes his Grand Tour debut after a solid 2026 campaign.
Illness forced him pull out of the Giro and he been rebuilding his fitness since. Almeida will be aiming to rediscover his form at La Vuelta where he finished second last year behind Visma – Lease a Bike's Vingegaard.
Pogacar's rivals for the general classification in Spain include countryman Primoz Roglic (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe), who is chasing a record fifth crown, Felix Gall (Decathlon CMA CGM), Mattias Skjelmose (Lidl-Trek), and Enric Mas (Movistar).
It will only be the second time Pogacar has taken on two Grand Tours in one year – the other being his Tour-Giro double in 2024. He came close to racing the Vuelta last year only to decide extra rest would be a better bet ahead of the World Championships in Rwanda.
Pogacar will be looking for a third consecutive world crown this year in Canada, meaning that he will have a two-week recovery period between Vuelta's final stage – in Grenada on September 13 – and the road race battle in Montreal on September 27.
