{"id":206255,"date":"2026-09-24T12:46:34","date_gmt":"2026-09-24T12:46:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/?p=206255"},"modified":"2026-09-24T12:46:34","modified_gmt":"2026-09-24T12:46:34","slug":"pogacar-in-the-european-championships-the-story-of-a-rumour","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/2026\/09\/24\/pogacar-in-the-european-championships-the-story-of-a-rumour\/","title":{"rendered":"Poga\u010dar in the European Championships: The Story of a Rumour"},"content":{"rendered":"

Will Tadej Poga\u010dar return from the serious injuries he sustained in the Vuelta and race in the European Road Race Championships, which will be held in his homeland of Slovenia from October 2 to October 7? That is the question that has been agitating cycling’s cybersphere for the past week or so.<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Poga\u010dar crashed on stage 8 of the Vuelta,<\/a> on August 29, sustaining a concussion, a displaced left clavicle fracture, a stable neck fracture and multiple abrasions, and was forced to abandon the race. We wrote at the time that, according to several expert websites, the impact of these injuries on the body was\u201cexponential rather than additive\u201d \u2013 that is, their combined impact was greater than the sum of the individual injuries. As a result, achieving full fitness would take \u201canywhere from 6 to 12+ months.\u201d But because Poga\u010dar is an elite athlete and the neck fracture was stable, the time could be shortened.<\/p>\n

In any event, a later statement<\/a> by UAE Team Emirates\u2013 XRG declared that he would do no more racing in 2026, while at the same time announcing that he had signed a contract extension until 2032. Poga\u010dar himself said at the time: \u201cOf course, this isn\u2019t the way I wanted my season to finish. Right now, the most important thing is to recover properly and give my body the time it needs. It has been a season with many special moments, and I\u2019m proud of what we achieved together. Now I\u2019ll focus on getting healthy, supporting the guys from home, and coming back next year ready for what\u2019s ahead.\u201d<\/p>\n

But a rumour suggesting the five-time Tour de France winner would race in the Euros suddenly provoked a hornet’s nest of interest after Italian journalist Beppe Conti suggested that the Slovenian was determined to participate in the European Championship if his recovery allowed it. A few days later, it was discovered that his name was on the provisional entry list published by the UEC (Union Europ\u00e9enne de Cyclisme) on Tuesday.<\/p>\n

\"Poga\u010dar<\/a>
Poga\u010dar crashed on stage 8 of the Vuelta, on August 29, sustaining a concussion, a displaced left clavicle fracture, a stable neck fracture and multiple abrasions, and was forced to abandon the race. \u00a9 Profimedia<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Now the story spread like wildfire, on the assumption that if anyone could return from such catastrophic injuries in fewer than 6 weeks, it was Poga\u010dar. After all, he walks on water, doesn’t he? All of the major cycling publications carried the story, with some, like ProCyclingUK<\/em><\/a>, reminding readers that these lists are \u201cprovisional and include reserve riders, so appearing now is not a guarantee that somebody will actually start the road race.\u201d<\/p>\n

Then the Danish publication Feltet<\/em><\/a> contacted UAE regarding the entry list and received a definitive response. \u201cThis is probably an old list,\u201d UAE said. \u201cAlthough he is back doing light indoor training, there are no plans for him to ride any more races this year.\u201d<\/p>\n

That should have put an end to it, but it didn’t. The Slovenian organisers of the European Championships then got into the act, with European Championships General Secretary Toma\u017e Poljanec<\/a> telling Siol<\/em><\/a>, \u201cWe all want him. This championship was organised with Tadej Poga\u010dar in mind.\u201d Though he did not say that he truly believed that the defending world champion would race in October, Poljanec did not rule it out entirely. \u201cWho will be among the eight is for the coach to decide,\u201d he said. \u201cOf course, we would all like Tadej, but I think the right thing is to listen first to the experts and the doctors, so I would rather not speculate.\u201d<\/p>\n

Actually, Poljanec was wrong. The final decision on whether Poga\u010dar races in the European Championships is not up to the Slovenian coach; it’s up to the team that pays the Great One his great salary. But it’s understandable why the mere rumour of Poga\u010dar’s early return to racing would make the hearts of cycling fans flutter, and especially those of the editors of cycling publications.<\/p>\n

He is a rare superstar, charismatic, immensely likeable, hugely popular and certainly one of the two greatest cyclists who ever lived. Dedicated cycling fans will follow the sport, even when the great riders are not racing. But the casual cycling fans come for the celebrities and the legends; Pogi brings the world to the sport.<\/p>\n

That is certainly something that worries Poljanec, who is probably afraid that without Poga\u010dar racing, attendance at the Championships will suffer. But I’m sure that Poga\u010dar will be at the start line in October, but not as a rider. He will be there as an honoured spectator, to receive the well-deserved ovations of his home fans and all cycling fans in attendance. That’s also worth coming for.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Will Tadej Poga\u010dar return from the serious injuries he sustained in the Vuelta and race in the European Road Race […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":99,"featured_media":205223,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[329],"tags":[9139,479,3415,9140],"global-categories":[3366],"class_list":["post-206255","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-road-cycling","tag-2026-uec-road-european-championships","tag-la-vuelta","tag-tadej-pogacar","tag-tomaz-poljanec","global-categories-cycling"],"yoast_head":"\nPoga\u010dar in the European Championships: The Story of a Rumour - \u0160koda We Love Cycling<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Will Tadej Poga\u010dar return from the serious injuries he sustained in the Vuelta and race in the European Road Race Championships, which will be held in his\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/2026\/09\/24\/pogacar-in-the-european-championships-the-story-of-a-rumour\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Poga\u010dar in the European Championships: The Story of a Rumour\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Will Tadej Poga\u010dar return from the serious injuries he sustained in the Vuelta and race in the European Road Race Championships, which will be held in his\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/2026\/09\/24\/pogacar-in-the-european-championships-the-story-of-a-rumour\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"\u0160koda We Love Cycling\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-09-24T12:46:34+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/d2p6e6u75xmxt8.cloudfront.net\/2\/2026\/04\/Tadej-Pogacar-profimedia-1094047479-CVR.webp\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"990\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"660\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/webp\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"tereza\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Siegfried Mortkowitz\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/2026\/09\/24\/pogacar-in-the-european-championships-the-story-of-a-rumour\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.welovecycling.com\/wide\/2026\/09\/24\/pogacar-in-the-european-championships-the-story-of-a-rumour\/\",\"name\":\"Poga\u010dar in the European Championships: The Story of a Rumour - 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