Tour de France champion Tadej Pogacar is on course for a start-to-finish victory in the Vuelta. The Slovenian cycling star successfully defended his red jersey in the Tour of Spain with a third-place finish on the second stage and is now in an excellent position to hold onto his lead until the 21st and final stage in Granada. This is because a mountain finish awaits in Font Romeu as early as Monday, which could see Pogacar consolidate his lead at the top of the standings.
On Saturday, in his adopted home of Monaco, Pogacar kicked off his second Vuelta – following his 2019 appearance – with a razor-thin victory in the individual time trial. On Sunday, the 27-year-old finished third in the sprint on the second stage, covering 202.1 kilometres from Monaco to Manosque, behind the British stage winner Matthew Brennan and the Spaniard Pau Miquel.
Van Aert is now the closest challenger
Pogacar now holds a nine-second lead over Paris–Roubaix winner Wout van Aert in the overall standings. The Belgian had tried an attack shortly before the finish, but Pogacar was not caught off guard.
Pogacar has yet to secure an overall victory in the Vuelta a España. Should he finish on top at the end of the 3,275-kilometre Vuelta in the final stage in Granada, he would become only the ninth professional cyclist to have won all three Grand Tours. Pogacar has already won the Tour de France five times, and he also triumphed in the Giro d’Italia in 2024.
On the third stage, which is still taking place on French soil, the Col de Mont-Louis, a Category 1 climb, awaits in the final stretch. The route then continues uphill to Font Romeu.
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