Tadej Pogacar to Chase Grand Tour Treble With Vuelta a Espana Return

Newly crowned five-time Tour de France champion Tadej Pogacar will race this month's Vuelta a Espana in an attempt to complete cycling's rare Grand Tour treble, his team UAE Team Emirates-XRG has confirmed.

The Slovenian, who became the joint most successful Tour de France champion of all time alongside Jacques Anquetil, Eddy Merckx, Bernard Hinault and Miguel Indurain last month, already won the 2024 Giro d'Italia by close to 10 minutes and would become just the ninth rider in history to win all three Grand Tours with victory in Spain.

"The motivation is high to finish off the year in a good way and the Vuelta will be a big target," Pogacar said, recalling his first Grand Tour there back in 2019, when he finished third as a 20-year-old.

This year's race runs from Aug. 22 in Monaco to Sept. 13 in Granada across 21 stages, and comes just a week before Pogacar is expected to defend his Road World Championships title in Montreal, capping an already dominant season in which he has won six of the seven World Tour races he has entered.

With Pogacar the overwhelming favourite for a treble few riders have ever achieved, expect his odds to dominate Playdash's Vuelta a Espana outright and stage-winner markets throughout August.