MADRID (AP) — Tadej Pogacar is aiming to complete a Grand Tour hat trick when the Spanish Vuelta begins this weekend in Monaco.
Pogacar won a record-equaling fifth Tour de France title in July, adding to his 2024 Giro d’Italia triumph and leaving the Vuelta as the only Grand Tour race he is yet to conquer.
It was at the Vuelta in 2019 that Pogacar made his Grand Tour debut as a 20-year-old, winning three stages and finishing third for what remains his worst overall result in the three-week events.
The Slovenian hasn’t competed in the Vuelta since then, but was included by UAE Team Emirates-XRG in this year’s lineup. He will try to become the ninth male rider to complete the hat trick.
“It was my first ever Grand Tour back in 2019 and an amazing experience,” the 27-year-old Pogacar said after the team’s lineup was announced. “Spain is a country I love to visit and race in and I think the time is right to go back.”
Thriving Pogacar
It has been a great year for Pogacar, with him winning stage races at the Tour de Suisse and the Tour de Romandie. He also earned victories in one-day classics.
With his third straight Tour de France victory, Pogacar joined Belgian Eddy Merckx, Spaniard Miguel Indurain, and Frenchmen Jacques Anquetil and Bernard Hinault as the only riders to win five Tour titles.
Pogacar finished 6 minutes, 26 seconds ahead of Belgian rider Remco Evenepoel in the overall standings.
Vingegaard out
Jonas Vingegaard, long considered Pogacar’s top rival, crashed out of the Tour on the 15th stage. He fractured his collarbone and will not compete at the Vuelta.
Vingegaard won this year’s Giro d’Italia to complete his own career sweep of the three Grand Tours. He also won a Paris-Nice stage race in a successful first half of the season.
He was the last rider to win the Tour before Pogacar’s winning run. Vingegaard won it in both 2022 and ′ 23. For his second title, he beat Pogacar by more than seven minutes in a result that put them level at 2-2 for Tour titles at the time.
Start in Monaco
The 81st Vuelta starts Saturday with a very technical individual time trial in Monaco, which is where Pogacar lives.
The short first stage of 9.4 kilometers (5.8-miles) will include a slew of sharp turns through the streets of the principality, which is set to become the first location to host the start of all three Grand Tours following the 1966 Giro d’Italia and the 2009 Tour de France.
The Vuelta then makes its way through France and Andorra to Spain. It will conclude on Sept. 13 at the fortress of Alhambra in Granada following nearly 3,300 kilometers (1.900 miles) of racing.
Mountainous route
Riders will face a tough Vuelta, with six full mountain stages and four mid-mountain stages.
There will also be five hilly stages, including one uphill finale. Two-time trials are scheduled, along with two rest days.
The second stage will also start in Monaco but will head toward Provence passing through cities such as Nice. It will be the longest of the stages at 214.3 kilometers (133.1 miles).
In a change to recent years, the finale will go from the Spanish capital of Madrid to the southern city of Granada.
Last year’s Vuelta was marred by protests because of the participation of an Israeli team, with the final stage being cut short by organizers.
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