Tadej Pogačar has a long list of big results to his name. He also has some big ideas for how to improve the sport. At a pre-season training camp/fondo in Gran Canaria, the Slovenian made the case for a Grand switcheroo. That is, having two of the Grand Tours switch places.
The world champions argument is simple.
“I always say that if they swapped the Giro d’Italia and the Vuelta, it would be much better in terms of weather conditions and the number of cyclists who could attend,” Pogačar told AS while in Gran Canaria.
The Grand Tour switcharoo
Makes sense, right? But Pogačar is talking about flipping the Grand Tour calendar around. That’s no small proposition. But it’s not unprecedented.
The UAE racer would like to Vuelta a España to return to before the Tour de France. This would actually be a return of sorts for the Spanish Grand Tour, which took place before its French counter part in the past. To balance that out, Giro d’Italia would move to a later spot on the calendar. This part is entirely new.
The meteorological motives for the proposed switch should be clear to any long-time fan of the sport. Giro’s high mountain stages are canceled, altered or rerouted with some frequency due to extremely weather. The race is part of the reason why UCI’s been forced to create, and actually follow its cold weather safety protocols. As for the Vuelta, its August heat has created safety concerns at the other extreme of the thermometer. So switching their calendar spots could mean Vuelta’s high-mountain finishes would be open while its valley transitions would not yet be covered in a blanket of extreme heat. While the Giro could access its most iconic summits without so frequently checking the snow levels.
Pogačar has his own motivations, of course. Vuelta is the one Grand Tour the highly decorated Slovenian has yet to win. Its current spot after the Tour de France has, so far, seemed to prevent the UAE racer from claiming the final title in the Grand Tour trio. So maybe when he hints that an early Vuelta would be better in the “number of cyclists who could attend,” he’s really referring to one cyclist in particular: Tadej Pogačar.
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