Gianetti: 'The Vuelta is on his programme' for Tadej Pogacar after Tour de France

UAE Team Emirates-XRG manager Mauro Gianetti has suggested that Tadej Pogačar will likely race the Vuelta a España next month, barring any issues during the Tour de France.

"The Vuelta is on his programme," Gianetti told Velo. "Let's see what happens at the Tour, but normally the Vuelta is on the programme."

The semi-confirmation comes after months of speculation about the Slovenian's ambitions for the Autumn, with Pogačar having avoided directly answering questions about his participation in the Spanish grand tour. However, Gianetti's comments indicate that all being well, Pogačar will be set to appear at the Spanish Grand Tour for only the second time in his illustrious career.

Pogačar last raced the Vuelta in 2019 during his debut season as a professional, where he won three stages and finished third overall behind fellow Slovenian Primož Roglič and Alejandro Valverde in second. As we all know, it proved to be only the starting point for Pogačar, who is now 100 professional victories deep, after taking stage 4 of the Tour de France on Tuesday, and is only the Vuelta a España away from completing the Grand Tour set, having won the Giro in 2024, and the Tour de France three times in 2020, 2021, and 2024. If Pogačar wins the Spanish Grand Tour, the World Champion would become only the eighth male rider in history to win all three.

The Tour de France has started well for the World Champion, as he now sits pretty atop the leaderboard in yellow after a strong showing in stage five's individual time trial in Caen. Pogačar leads Remco Evenepoel by 42 seconds and his arch-rival Jonas Vingegaard by 1:13, a huge difference made in the time trial and UAE Team Emirates-XRG will look to support the Slovenian star as he aims to defend his yellow jersey to Paris.

“Things have been going well, the team is strong and committed,” Gianetti told Velo. “Some were saying this was a Tour de France like 20 years for the sprinters, but the first four stages were really challenging and we are seeing big differences. Tadej is feeling good.”

Beyond the Grand Tours, Tadej Pogačar will be looking to defend the rainbow bands as World Champion in Rwanda on September 28, and will be the overwhelming favourite on a brutal course that features over 5,400 metres of elevation gain. In the past few years, with the exception of the 2023 championships in Glasgow two weeks after the Tour de France, Pogačar has opted to use the two UCI WorldTour one-day races in Canada, the GP Québec and the GP Montréal as preparation, but he will take a change of pace by tackling the Vuelta a España in 2025.

If Pogačar was able to successfully defend his rainbow jersey in Rwanda, he would become the fourth male rider in the 21st century to win consecutive world road-race titles after Paolo Bettini in 2006-07, Peter Sagan in 2015-17, and Julian Alaphilippe in 2020-21. But first, all eyes will be on getting the job done at the Tour de France, where he currently leads after five stages of racing.