Pogacar to skip Vuelta after Tour de France triumph

Tadej Pogacar will not race in the Vuelta a Espana next month following his latest Tour de France triumph, his team said on Tuesday.

“Fresh from his emphatic fourth victory at the Tour de France, (Pogacar) will take a well-earned break,” UAE Team Emirates said as they named their eight-man squad for the Vuelta.

The 26-year-old Pogacar crushed his rivals to collect another Tour title on Sunday, adding to those won in 2020, 2021 and 2024.

“After such a demanding Tour, we decided it was best to take a break,” Pogacar said in a team statement.

“The Vuelta is of course a race I would dearly love to return to. I have fantastic memories there from 2019, but now the body is telling me to rest.”

Pogacar plans to return to competition in the Canadian one-day races in Quebec and Montreal in mid-September, a week before the world championships begin in Rwanda. 

“I’m excited to go back to Canada; the races are tough but beautiful, and they fit my style well,” he said.

“I’ll be aiming to be back racing well again for that part of the season and for the World Championships especially.”

The Vuelta is the only Grand Tour that Pogacar has not won. He finished third in his only participation in 2019.

Pogacar won the Giro d’Italia last year on his debut.

This year’s Vuelta begins in Turin, Italy, on August 23 and ends in Madrid on September 14.