Tadej Pogačar set to skip Vuelta a España to focus on end of season goals

UAE Team Emirates have confirmed this morning that Tadej Pogačar will miss the upcoming Vuelta a España. 

The 23-year-old Slovenian finished second to Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma) at the recent Tour de France. 

Instead of participating in the final grand-tour of the 2022 season, Pogačar will be targeting smaller one-day races and he will also be on the start line at the World Championships in September. 

After a week off where he was seen watching his fiancee, Urška Žigart, at the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift, Pogačar will race the Clásica de San Sebastián this upcoming weekend.

The Slovenian will then be in action at the GP Plouay in France in late August before turning his attention to the World Championships in Wollongong, Australia before targeting Il Lombardia in October. 

Pogačar won last year’s Il Lombardia to add another monument to his already glittering Palmarès, and will look to add a second Lombardia victory at the final race of his season. 

Despite missing out on a third consecutive overall Tour de France title, the 23-year-old took three stage wins and pushed Vingegaard all the way to Paris. 

Just a single bad day on the road to the Col du Granon would cost Pogačar victory. A tactical masterstroke from Jumbo-Visma saw both Vingegaard and Primož Roglič repeatedly attack Pogačar to take the yellow jersey from his shoulders. Vingegaard would then wear it all the way to Paris.

With no Pogačar at the Vuelta, the battle for overall victory will be wide open. 

Giro d’Italia winner Jai Hindley is expected to be present for Bora-Hansgrohe along with Richard Carapaz for Ineos Grenadiers. 

The Vuelta a España 2022 will begin on 19 August in Utrecht, The Netherlands. Stage one is a 23.2 kilometre team time-trial. 

Racing will conclude in Madrid on September 11.