After an impressive performance at the Tour de France, top cyclist Tadej Pogacar announced that he will not compete in the Vuelta a Espana. This race is the only Grand Tour that Pogacar has not won yet, but the athlete decided to skip it this year, after a tough three weeks of racing in France.
Pogacar said: “After such a demanding Tour, we decided it was best to take a break. 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.”
Moreover, Pogacar admitted that he would like to focus on the Grand Prix Cycliste de Quebec and the Grand Prix Cyclist de Montreal this September. He also aims to defend his title at the World Road Championships in Rwanda.
“I’m excited to go back to Canada; the races are tough but beautiful, and they fit my style well… I’ll be aiming to be back racing well again for that part of the season and for the World Championships especially,” Pogacar declared.
With his absence, Pogacar’s awaited Vuelta meeting with Jonas Vingegaard from Visma-Lease a Bike won’t happen this year. Vingegaard finished in second place at the Tour and also fought intensely for the yellow jersey.
Furthermore, the UAE Team Emirates-XRG will now support Joao Almeida and Juan Ayuso as their main leaders for this last big race of the season.
On social media, Pogacar said after the Tour de France: “🇫🇷💛 What. A. Journey. Three weeks, one dream. Every kind of pain. Every kind of joy. That’s the Tour. Huge respect to the peloton — no easy wins out here. Proud to wear yellow again, and even prouder of the people who made it possible. You know who you are 🙏 @joao.almeida.cyclist you were missed in Paris yesterday, but Vuelta is calling 🔥. Merci, hvala, thank you ❤️”
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Netizens expressed their support in the comments by saying: “Thanks for an amazing 21 days! Enjoy your vacation, champ!! 💛👑”, “You make cycling worth watching .. The Best Ever .. I hope stay motivated and keep on entertaining us for another decade atleast .. 😎❤️😎”, and “Thank you for all the emotions you gave us (as always)! Wish you to get some well deserved rest and to enjoy your time surrounded by your loved ones, doing the things you love! 🥹🫶🏻”
This year’s Vuelta will run from August 23 to September 14. It will have 21 stages covering a total distance of 3,151 kilometres. There will be four flat stages, six medium mountain stages, five mountain stages, one individual time trial, and three hilly stages with high-altitude finales. All racers will also have two rest days for recovery during the three weeks of competition.
Know more about the upcoming race here.
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