With the end of the Tour de France 2022, new speculations came to life. Everyone had but one question in mind. Will they see their favorite rider Tadej Pogacar ride for his team the UAE Team Emirates in the upcoming Vuelta a España. Well, the rider cleared all suppositions as he said that he will not be taking part in the Grand Tour.
The team’s management had initially decided to make Pogacar a part of the team headed to Vuelta a España. Joxean Fernández Matxin, the sport’s director had made a comment at Tour de France, stating:
if all goes well, he’ll be there
The plan changed when Pogacar lost the Tour to Vingegaard, finishing in second place. The team and the rider stated that they would like to take some days to contemplate the situation. For this purpose, a team meeting was held on 25th July, Monday and it was concluded that the rider would focus more on Classics rather than becoming part of Vuelta a España. If Pogacar had decided to join the team for racing at the Grand Tour, it would have been the first time that the rider took part in two Grand Tours in a year.
Nevertheless, Pogacar’s calendar appears to be jam-packed as he will be seen racing in the one-day Classic in Spain. After having a rest of 4 days following Spain’s top Classic, he will return to northern France to take part in GP Plouay. His travels will then take him to North America, where he will race at the Grand Prix Cycliste de Québec and Grand Prix Cycliste de Montréal.
Afterward, he will be seen in Australia for the World Championships (September 19-25). His travels will come to a halt along with his 2022 season at Giro dell’Emilia (October 1), Tre Valli Varesine (October 4), and the Il Lombardia (October 8) in Italy.
The last Vuelta which Pogacar raced was in 2019, where he won two stages and finished third overall.
Generally, Vuelta a España is stretched over a duration of 3 weeks. It is scheduled to start on August 19, Friday. The races will undergo in the Netherlands, Belgium, and Spain.
Also Read: Tour De France Femmes: Jumbo-Visma Dominates Once Again
Featured Image Via YouTube/ MET Helmets
