Pogacar plans earlier return to training as focus shifts to 2027

After weeks on the sidelines, the Slovenian is back on his bike and gradually rebuilding his fitness. Although his season is officially over, Pogačar is already thinking about the months ahead.

“I might be able to rest a little longer, but I'll also start training earlier than I normally would. I'll begin about a month earlier,” he told Slovenian broadcaster RTV Slovenija.

The change in schedule comes after a difficult period for the UAE Team Emirates-XRG leader, whose season unravelled following a serious crash at the Vuelta a España on 29 August.

Pogačar had been leading the Spanish Grand Tour when he suffered a fractured collarbone and an injury to his cervical spine, forcing him to abandon the race. He subsequently underwent surgery and was ruled out of the remainder of the season, including the World Championships and the European Championships on home roads.

It was an unexpected end to another remarkable year in which he had already won the Tour de France, Milan-San Remo, the Tour of Flanders and Liège-Bastogne-Liège.

Despite his reputation for bouncing back quickly, Pogačar admitted that the early stages of his recovery were anything but straightforward.

“The first two weeks were pretty brutal. There weren't many good days,” he said.

Things began to improve in the third week, when he was able to resume some physical activity, spend time on the indoor trainer and work with his physiotherapist.

That gradual return has allowed him to get back on the road, although competitive racing remains off the agenda until next year.

Pogačar's decision to begin his preparations earlier has inevitably raised questions about his racing calendar for 2027. One possibility is a return to the Tour Down Under in Australia in January, for the second time in his career. 

Pogačar made his UAE and professional debut at the race back in 2019, where he finished 13th overall, 43 seconds behind GC winner Daryl Impey. 

For now, however, UAE Team Emirates-XRG is keeping its options open. Team manager Mauro Gianetti recently told journalist Daniel Benson that it is too early to say whether Pogačar will start racing in Australia.

“We'll see. We wanted him to finish the season and then go on holiday. In November and December, we'll put together a proper plan,” Gianetti explained.

“When we make a plan, we always look at the whole year and the long term for Tadej. Every year he needs to recharge his batteries, and we have to try to look two or three years ahead.”

Next season will also mark the first time since 2024 that Pogačar will start a road race (excluding time trials) while wearing the team-issue UAE jersey and shorts, after his long spell as World and European Champion came to an end. 

The last time Pogačar raced in the red, black and white colours of the team was when he won the Grand Prix Cycliste de Montréal on 14 September 2024.

While his teammate Brandon McNulty went on to win the World title, and therefore keep the rainbow jersey within the UAE camp, Pogačar will now race in UAE team-issue colours in 2027, whenever he is not in a race leader's jersey, until at least the Super World Championships in Sallanches, France on 29 August.  

The date of the 2027 Worlds comes exactly one year to the day after his Vuelta crash, and the two-time former champion will be the outstanding favourite to reclaim the rainbow jersey, assuming a return to his regular self following his current recovery.