{"id":206098,"date":"2026-08-21T10:47:37","date_gmt":"2026-08-21T10:47:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/?p=206098"},"modified":"2026-08-21T10:48:59","modified_gmt":"2026-08-21T10:48:59","slug":"will-tadej-pogacar-win-the-vuelta-by-more-than-10-minutes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/2026\/08\/21\/will-tadej-pogacar-win-the-vuelta-by-more-than-10-minutes\/","title":{"rendered":"Will Tadej Poga\u010dar Win the Vuelta by More Than 10 Minutes?"},"content":{"rendered":"

That’s the only question regarding the GC contest about which there is some suspense in the upcoming Vuelta a Espa\u00f1a, which kicks off Saturday in Monaco. Stage 1 is a 9.4km time trial that the five-time Tour de France winner may not win, as time trial specialist Joshua Tarling (Netcompany INEOS) is in the race eight days after his younger brother was tragically killed after being hit by a car while racing.<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

If Poga\u010dar does win the stage, he may wear the race leader’s red jersey for the rest of the Vuelta. But if not, barring an accident or illness, his winning this brutal edition of the final Grand Tour of the year is as certain \u2013 no, more<\/em> certain \u2013 than the sun rising tomorrow morning.<\/p>\n

Naturally, the UAE Team Emirates\u2013XRG leader said the opposite. “I don’t know if it’s even worth answering that question,” he said<\/a> after being asked if the win will be easy for him. “It’s going to be a very tough race, it’s going to be a hard one. Everybody that is here, I expect them to be in top shape, and there are some very, very good riders here. It’s never easy.”<\/p>\n

Well, what’s he going to say? Despite his dominance, he respects his rivals; he wouldn’t have won so often if he didn’t. But down deep he and his team know that becoming the ninth male rider to win all three Grand Tours will be a cakewalk.<\/p>\n

Lesser competition than in the Tour<\/strong><\/h2>\n

For starters, his most dangerous rival, Jonas Vingegaard (Visma\u2013Lease a Bike) \u2013 who became the eighth rider to register a career “Grand Slam” this year by winning the Giro \u2013 is not in the race, having retired for the year after injuring himself in the Tour de France. In addition, the four riders who finished second to fifth in the Tour are also not riding in the Vuelta. But Mattias Skjelmose (Lidl-Trek), who finished sixth, will be. And so will Richard Carapaz (EF Education\u2013EasyPost), who finished eighth and won the King of the Mountains competition.<\/p>\n

But Skjelmose finished 14:59 behind the Slovenian and Carapaz was 20:00 adrift, even though Poga\u010dar spent a few stages helping his young teammate Isaac del Toro fight off Paul Seixas, rather than riding for his own account. Otherwise the gaps would probably have been even greater. Add to that the fact that this Vuelta is a climber’s paradise with a monumental 58,156 meters of total elevation gain, making it one of the hardest and most mountain-heavy routes in the history of the race. Poga\u010dar is the best climber in the world and is sure to gain lots of time in every mountain stage he targets.<\/p>\n

\n
\n

 <\/p>\n

\n
<\/div>\n
\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\n
Zobrazit p\u0159\u00edsp\u011bvek na Instagramu<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
\n
\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

P\u0159\u00edsp\u011bvek sd\u00edlen\u00fd La Vuelta (@lavuelta)<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n