Whilst arch-rival Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) is in full Giro d’Italia mode, Tadej Pogačar has begun his first a part of the build-up for the Tour de France at altitude camp, group administration mentioned.
Following a extremely profitable Classics marketing campaign and a crushing general win within the Tour de Romandie, the UAE Crew Emirates-XRG chief is now in southern Spain at Sierra Nevada.
Final yr, Vingegaard and Pogačar crossed paths at altitude camp in Sierra Nevada throughout their countdown for the Tour de France. This time round, whereas Vingegaard shall be racing in Italy till Might 31, Pogačar’s camp has began barely later than in 2025, when he was coaching in the identical location previous to the Critérium du Dauphiné, now renamed because the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes.
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„He is there, and he is in Tour de France mode,“ UAE Crew Emirates-XRG sports activities supervisor Joxean Fernández Matxin informed Cyclingnews throughout the Giro d’Italia.
Pogačar’s participation within the Tour de Suisse, which begins on June 17, shall be a primary for the Slovenian champion, whereas on the Tour de France, Pogačar shall be trying to be a part of Eddy Merckx, Miguel Indurain, Jacques Anquetil and Bernard Hinault as a five-time winner of biking’s hardest stage race.
Matxin politely however firmly rejected the suggestion that whereas in Sierra Nevada, Pogačar would possibly do a recon of stage 20 of the Vuelta a España, which finishes within the southerly mountains on the crunch summit end of Collado del Alguacil.
Whereas Pogačar is predicted to spend three weeks at Sierra Nevada this Might, the 16-kilometre Collado del Alguacil, with fixed common gradients of 10% and better in its final eight kilometres, is ready to make its debut in skilled biking on September 12 within the Vuelta.
For now, nonetheless, Pogačar’s 2026 race program for after the Tour has not been revealed, though a bid for a 3rd straight highway title within the World Championships is strongly rumoured as all however sure.
