Pogacar’s Vuelta debut in 2019: The starting point of a great Grand Tour career

The five-time Tour de France winner and Giro champion has yet to secure overall victory in the Vuelta a España, having won all three major national stage races. Ironically, it was the Spanish stage race that kick-started his Grand Tour career in 2019. Back then, the Slovenian wasn’t actually supposed to be riding any three-week stage races at all.

Unplanned debut with UAE Team Emirates

Sports director Joxean Fernandez had drawn up a career plan for Pogacar: 65 to 70 race days in his first professional season in 2019, followed by either the Giro or the Vuelta in 2020, depending on his preference, and the Tour de France in 2021 as preparation for an ambitious attempt in 2022. His victory at the 2019 Tour of California brought the schedule forward. At the time, the organisers denied the winner the traditional champagne ceremony, as alcohol is only permitted in the US from the age of 21.

At the 2019 Vuelta in Torrevieja, three former winners lined up at the start: Alejandro Valverde, Nairo Quintana and Fabio Aru. Alongside them, Pogacar was set to learn the ropes with UAE Team Emirates. The opening team time trial was a disaster – the UAE Team Emirates finished second from last. Astana Pro Team, featuring the Colombian Miguel Ángel López, took the win. The top favourite for the overall victory was Primož Roglič, who had finished third in the Giro but had yet to win a Grand Tour.

The first junior jersey in the history of the Vuelta

In 2019, for the first time in its history, the Vuelta awarded a white jersey to the best rider under the age of 26, as was already customary at the Tour and the Giro (where the award goes to the best rider under 25). In 2017 and 2018, the best young professional rider was awarded a red bib. From 1970 and again from 1984 to 1992, there was a classification for the best new professional, regardless of age. López was considered the favourite ahead of the Colombians Dani Martínez and Sergio Higuita, the Britons Hugh Carthy and Tao Geoghegan Hart, and Oscar Rodríguez from Spain.

Pogacar donned his first white jersey in Mora de Rubielos at the start of the sixth stage, although only as a stand-in, as Lopez had been wearing La Roja since the first day. The following day, he lost 51 seconds to Valverde, who, wearing the rainbow jersey, won on the brutally steep Mas de la Costa. The Spaniard was the oldest rider in the peloton, whilst the Slovenian was the youngest.

First stage victory in Andorra

Nicolas Edet wore the La Roja jersey and López the white jersey when Pogacar claimed his first Grand Tour stage victory on the ninth stage in Cortals d’Encamp. The town in Andorra will feature again on the fourth stage of this year’s Vuelta.

On the rest day, the Slovenian spoke to the media: “My name is Tadej Pogacar. I’m from Slovenia. It’s a small country where people work hard. I started cycling when I was nine, to be like my older brother, because whatever he did, I had to do it too. He stopped cycling, but I didn’t. I’ve never stopped improving, and to this day I’m very happy with what I’ve achieved.”

Battle for the podium

After the time trial in Pau at the halfway stage, Roglic led by 1 minute 52 seconds ahead of Valverde. Pogacar was in fifth place, 3 minutes 05 seconds behind. On the steep Los Machucos climb in Cantabria during Stage 13, the two Slovenians crossed the line together. Pogacar won the stage and took the lead in the Best Young Rider classification for the first time. López regained the lead in this classification at Becerril de la Sierra on Stage 18.

On the morning of the penultimate stage to the Plataforma de Gredos, Pogacar was in fifth place, 1 minute and 18 seconds behind the podium. He was wearing the green jersey, as Roglic, Sam Bennett and Valverde – who were ahead of him in the points classification – were already wearing other jerseys. The stage – featuring 4,500 metres of climbing, rain, wind and Astana’s efforts to displace Quintana from third place and Valverde from second – did not deter him. He attacked 38 kilometres from the finish and won with a 1 minute 32 seconds lead over world champion Valverde.

Merckx recognises the champion

"I think I’ll need a few days to realise what I’ve done," said Pogacar in a post-stage interview. Eddy Merckx was watching the race live on television and immediately recognised the significance of the moment. “On that day, I knew we were dealing with an exceptional champion,” he has repeated time and again ever since.

Between the First World War and the 2019 Vuelta, only three riders had stood on a Grand Tour podium before their 21st birthday: Fausto Coppi won the Giro in 1940, Antonio Jimenez finished second in the Vuelta in 1955, and Giambattista Baronchelli finished second in the Giro behind Merckx in 1978. Until then, only one rider had won three stages of a Grand Tour before his 21st birthday: Giuseppe Saronni at the 1978 Giro – though none of them were mountain stages.