Everyone Thinks Tadej Pogačar Will Crush the Vuelta a España. He Says Not So Fast.

Tadej Pogačar could have strutted into Monaco and the start of the 2026 Vuelta a España like he owned the place.

Who could blame him?

There’s no Jonas Vingegaard or Remco Evenepoel. Pogačar has been racing at GOAT level all season, and just about everyone expects him to bulldoze through Spain and complete the grand tour sweep.

Yet Pogačar almost seemed offended by the suggestion that this Vuelta might be a cakewalk.

“I don’t know if it’s even worth answering this question,” he said Thursday.

“There is a very stacked competition here. I don’t know why you would say that it was much tougher competition in the Tour, because here we have amazing talent on the start line and it’s going to be a very tough race,” he said.

“It’s going to be a hard battle. Everybody who is here, I expect them to be in top shape. There are very, very good riders here and it’s never, never, never easy.”

Maybe that’s Pogačar being diplomatic, because he always shows full respect for his rivals. And maybe he actually believes it.

Either way, the world No. 1 certainly isn’t pounding his chest before the race starts with Saturday’s time trial in Monaco.

Saving something for worlds and beyond

Pogačar also revealed that plans for his demolition season won’t end in Granada.

Yes, he wants to win the Vuelta, but he doesn’t want it to wreck the rest of his 2026 campaign.

“I shouldn’t finish the Vuelta completely destroyed,” Pogačar said Thursday. “I’m always thinking that I still have three big races after the Vuelta as well, worlds, Europeans and Lombardia.”

Pogačar is already looking down the road to add more trophies to his overflowing case.

Only two weeks after La Vuelta, he’ll be in Montréal trying to win a record-tying third straight rainbow jersey. After that come the European championships and Il Lombardia in October.

Pogi wants them all, so this Vuelta might look a little different.

Most of the other red-hot worlds favorites are either skipping the Vuelta or, if they’re here, won’t spend three weeks chasing the GC.

But if Pogačar wants to save something for Montréal, he won’t have it so easy on this course.

Twenty-one stages, more than 58,000 meters of climbing, and seven summit finishes stand between Pogačar and Granada in what’s billed as the season’s hardest grand tour.

Pogi looked ready for all challengers, showing up Thursday evening for the team presentation looking lean, fit, and with a freshly shorn, Eminem-style blond buzz cut.

Still setting the Vuelta tone

Could the Pog Show look different during this Vuelta?

His ambition mixed with a little caution could shape not only how Pogačar races but how this entire Vuelta unfolds.

Does he attack every time the road tilts uphill, chase six or seven stages and race like the Pog dominator everyone knows and loves?

Or is this an older, smarter version who might take his foot off the gas, especially if he grabs the lead early?

“We need to be smart and play the best three week race,” he said. “We will have to see from the first few days how we approach the stages after that.”

Pogačar hasn’t exactly followed the typical grand tour turnaround blueprint, either.

After winning the Tour, he hosted his “Pogi Challenge” fundraiser event in his hometown.

Then he played lead cheerleader for partner Urška Žigart at the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift, and steered clear from any major altitude camp.

And he’s also been thinking about a contract extension to keep racing beyond 2030.

“It hasn’t been long since the Tour, but I think it’s enough time to recover,” he said. “The start is close to my home, and that’s very nice. It’s one of the challenges I still have left, and I’ll give everything to achieve it.”

And on Thursday, he was pressing the flesh with Albert II, Prince of Monaco.

Celebrities and presidents just can’t get enough of the Slovenian superstar.

Completing the circle

Winning La Vuelta would make him just the ninth male to win all three grand tours, something he called “a big goal and a dream.”

For Pogi, this Vuelta is also about completing the circle.

Seven years ago, he burst onto the scene with three stage wins and third overall at the 2019 Vuelta in his grand tour debut.

Now he returns as the biggest star in cycling at the peak of his powers.

“It almost feels like it’s my first Vuelta,” Pogačar said. “I’m really looking forward.”

It’s hard to imagine he’ll change his attacking ways just yet.