UAE Team Emirates-XRG confirmed on Monday that five-time Tour de France champion Tadej Pogačar will race the 2026 Vuelta a España, marking his return to the Spanish Grand Tour for the first time since 2019, when the Slovenian finished third overall on his Grand Tour debut.
The race’s 81st edition gets underway on August 22 with an opening individual time trial in Monaco, where Pogačar has made his home in recent years, before the route heads through France and Andorra en route to Spain. The Vuelta concludes in Granada on September 13 following nearly 3,300 kilometres of racing, a route notable for skipping Spain’s traditionally climb-heavy northern stages in favour of one of the toughest overall profiles in recent years, featuring seven summit finishes and two individual time trials.
Speaking on his return to the race, Pogačar said he was excited to be heading back to the Vuelta, recalling his first Grand Tour experience there in 2019 as an amazing one, and adding that Spain remains a country he loves to visit and race in, with the timing now feeling right for a return.
The Slovenian will be chasing a rare Grand Tour double, having already claimed this year’s Tour de France in dominant fashion, equalling the record for five career general classification wins. A victory in Spain would also move him closer to completing the full set of Grand Tour titles, following his 2024 Giro d’Italia win, with only Vuelta success still missing from his palmarès.
Pogačar will be well supported in Monaco and beyond by a strong UAE Team Emirates-XRG lineup, including João Almeida, Jay Vine, Pavel Sivakov, Grand Tour debutant Pablo Torres, Kevin Vermaerke, Domen Novak and Ivo Oliveira, with Marco Marcato, Manuele Mori and Tomas Gil directing the squad throughout the race.
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