Pogacar’s Vuelta door remains open as UAE weigh historic Grand Tour treble bid
Tadej Pogacar could yet line up at La Vuelta later this season, with UAE Team Emirates-XRG general manager Joxean Fernández Matxin refusing to close the door on a Spanish Grand Tour appearance after the Tour de France.
Speaking to AS at the Giro d’Italia, Matxin made clear that Pogačar’s programme beyond July will depend on how he emerges from the Tour, both physically and mentally.
“The first thing is the Tour de France,” Matxin said. “In the past we have already seen that finishing such a demanding season can leave a lot of accumulated fatigue. The priority is to arrive well at the Tour and then decide the rest of the calendar depending on how everything evolves.”
That answer keeps alive one of the biggest storylines of the season: Pogačar’s possible pursuit of the full Grand Tour set. The Slovenian has already won the Tour de France four times and the Giro d’Italia as well in 2024, but La Vuelta remains the missing piece on his palmarès. Victory in Spain would place him among one of cycling’s most exclusive clubs, riders who have won all three Grand Tours.
Only seven men have achieved that feat: Eddy Merckx, Bernard Hinault, Felice Gimondi, Alberto Contador, Vincenzo Nibali, Chris Froome and Jacques Anquetil.
The context has become even more intriguing because his great rival Jonas Vingegaard is on a similar path toward history. The Dane, already a Tour de France and Vuelta a España winner, is currently racing the Giro d’Italia and looks to be in pole position to take the overall victory.
For UAE, however, the equation is not simply about history. Matxin repeatedly stressed the importance of fatigue management, especially in a season where the Tour remains the central objective. Pogačar has already begun fine tuning his preparation in Switzerland and recently reconned Tour stages alongside Isaac del Toro.
So far this season, the Slovenian has had just 11 race days, yet has already claimed eight victories and the overall title at the Tour de Romandie.
Before the Tour de France, Pogačar is set to ride the Tour de Suisse, while the World Championships, the European Championships in Slovenia and Il Lombardia are all pencilled in for the autumn. The key question is whether La Vuelta can realistically be combined with those late season targets as part of a bid for history.
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