Tadej Pogacar targets Grand Tour trilogy as 81st Vuelta a Espana starts in Monaco

Quest for the Grand Tour trilogy

The 81st edition of the Vuelta a España begins on Saturday afternoon, 22 August 2026, departing from Monaco with an opening individual time trial. Slovenian rider Tadej Pogačar enters as the primary favorite, seeking to win the only Grand Tour missing from his palmarès. Pogačar previously competed in the Spanish race in 2019, winning three mountain stages and finishing third overall behind Primož Roglič and Alejandro Valverde. Having collected five Tour de France victories (2020, 2021, 2024, 2025, and 2026) alongside the 2024 Giro d'Italia, a victory in Spain would make him the ninth rider to complete the Grand Tour trilogy. He also aims to become the fourth rider in cycling history to win both the Tour de France and the Vuelta in the same calendar year.

Pogačar addressed his return to the event during a pre-race press conference in Monaco.

It has been a long time since I wanted to do the Vuelta again. We sat down in December and talked about the possibility of coming. It was the right time.

Route demands and team strategy

Race director Javier Guillén designated the 2026 course as the most difficult edition in event history, featuring an elevation gain of 58,156 meters. The three-week competition runs from 22 August to 13 September, finishing in Granada after traversing three days in France and tackling seven summit finishes. The 21-stage layout includes two individual time trials, starting with the Monaco opener (listed between 9.4 and 10 kilometers), four flat stages, four hilly stages, four medium mountain stages, six high mountain stages, and an uphill final stage. UAE Team Emirates XRG structured Pogačar's calendar to preserve his physical condition following his July victory.

Performance director Jeroen Swart outlined the squad's approach in an interview with CyclingNews.

His physical preparation focused on the month of July, as it should, and the Vuelta is simply an addition. It was not necessarily an element that dictated the preparation before the Tour. But the race schedule had been designed to allow him to retain the mental freshness necessary to contest the Vuelta if he definitively decided to do it once the Tour was over.

Field dynamics and absent contenders

Several regular Grand Tour contenders are absent from the start list in Monaco. Two-time Tour winner Jonas Vingegaard, who completed his own Grand Tour trilogy by winning the Giro d'Italia in May, ended his season on Monday following a crash on stage 15 of the Tour de France. Remco Evenepoel, Isaac Del Toro, and Paul Seixas bypassed the race to prepare for the World Championships in Montreal in late September. Four-time Vuelta winner Primož Roglič leads Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe, starting the race less than a month after a training collision with a car. Roglič has worn the leader's red jersey across 38 stages in his career. Pogačar will receive mountain support from Portuguese rider João Almeida, who finished second overall in the 2025 Vuelta.

Stage hunters and personal tributes

The peloton features multiple riders targeting stage wins across different profiles. French climber Léo Bisiaux (21) enters his second Vuelta with Decathlon CMA CGM, working in support of Austrian leader Félix Gall after signing a contract extension through 2030. French sprinter Bryan Coquard (34) lines up for Cofidis to pursue stage victories after skipping the Tour de France, returning with screws still in his finger from a stage 12 fracture at the 2025 Tour. British time trial specialist Joshua Tarling (22) starts the opening stage eight days after his 19-year-old brother Finlay died during the Tour of Portugal in a collision with a car.