This is part of a mini-series exploring five of the major achievements missing from Tadej Pogačar’s already stunning palmarès: Milan-San Remo, Paris-Roubaix, the Vuelta a España, an Olympic title, and a record-equalling fifth Tour de France title.
Can he tick these off? We’re taking a closer look at each race to analyse his chances.
A few months back, Alexandre Roos, head of cycling at L’Équipe, could hardly have been more dismissive about Tadej Pogačar‘s potential future targeting of the Vuelta a España. He wrote that “two obsessions are going to keep him occupied this winter: Milan-San Remo and Paris-Roubaix. These are the two lines that are missing from his palmarès, because frankly, winning a Vuelta would not change anything in Pogačar’s career.”
Roos’ comments on what the Vuelta might mean to Pogačar’s ranking in the all-time greats of the sport feel like a majorly misguided underestimation of what winning the one Grand Tour missing from the Slovenian’s palmarès really means.
It’s not just that victory in the Vuelta would make Pogačar just the eighth male rider in history to clinch the ‘set’ of three Grand Tours, not to mention the first since Chris Froome in 2018. It’s also true that for plenty of fans – though perhaps not those who switch off and head for the beach in August once the Tour is over – taking the Vuelta is in itself a hugely impressive achievement.
It’s also perhaps been forgotten in the welter of Pogačar’s Tour de France successes that the first time he came close to winning a Grand Tour was actually in the Vuelta a España. It happened, too, with a long-distance attack – the first he ever did in a three-week stage race – in the 2019 edition, when he was the youngest rider in that year’s Vuelta and running fifth overall.
On stage 20 to Sierra de Gredos, five kilometres from the top of the Vuelta’s final major climb, the cat. 1 Puerto de Peña Negra, Pogačar launched his move. Searing past Colombian stars of the calibre Nairo Quintana and Miguel Ángel López, the Slovenian quickly built a staggering 1:40 advantage and rising on race leader Primoz Roglič and other GC contenders as he crossed the summit.
The older Slovenian was rapidly running out of support riders from his Jumbo-Visma squad, and he was badly isolated. It…
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