Pogacar has won five Tours de France and one Giro d'Italia. FABRICE COFFRINI / Getty ImagesAug. 3, 2026 4:44 am EDT Updated UAE Team Emirates XRG have confirmed that Tour de France winner Tadej Pogacar will ride in the 2026 Vuelta a España, which gets underway in Monaco on August 22.
It’s true – he’s coming back. @TamauPogi to @lavuelta, confirmed ✅ 🇪🇸
Introducing our team for the 21 stages from Monaco to Granada ⤵️
— @UAE-TeamEmirates (@TeamEmiratesUAE) August 3, 2026The Vuelta is the third of cycling’s Grand Tours, and the only one Pogacar has not won, after his five Tour wins and victory in the 2024 Giro d’Italia. The Slovenian has ridden the race once, in 2019, his first year as a professional. He came third in that edition, winning three stages and winning the young rider classification.Pogacar wins stage nine of the 2019 Vuelta, his first-ever Grand Tour stage win (JOSE JORDAN/AFP via Getty Images)Pogacar dominated the Tour de France this month, winning five stages and his fifth overall title — as well as setting climbing records on Alpe d’Huez and the Col du Tourmalet. He is joined in Spain by teammates including Joao Almeida and Jay Vine.2026 champion Jonas Vingegaard — Pogacar’s great rival — is not back to defend his title.Targeting the Vuelta is part of Pogacar’s bid to ‘complete’ cycling. After finally winning Milan-Sanremo earlier this year, the two biggest races he needs to add to his palmares are the Vuelta and Paris-Roubaix. He has attempted to win in Roubaix twice, finishing second to Mathieu van der Poel in 2025 and second behind Wout van Aert. Pogacar is also expected to target the Olympic road race in 2028, an event which has forced the Tour de France into an early start.The 2026 Vuelta gets underway in Monaco and hugs Spain’s east coast in the first week, before spending the remainder of the race in the south, where temperatures are expected to soar.Aug 3, 2026Connections: Sports EditionSpot the pattern. Connect the termsFind the hidden link between sports terms
