No Tour of Spain for Tadej Pogacar.
The second in the Tour de France will not compete in the Vuelta, the third and last Grand Tour of the season which he had initially thought of competing after the Grande Boucle, according to the program communicated Tuesday by his UAE team.
The Slovenian had revealed himself there during his only participation in 2019 when he finished third, won three stages and the jersey of best young person.
The white jersey of the Tour, beaten by the Dane Jonas Vingegaard after three weeks of fierce struggle, will line up on Saturday with the Clasica San Sebastian, the main one-day race in Spain, where he will find the green jersey of the Tour de France, the Belgian Wout van Aert.
Julian Alaphilippe, tested positive for Covid-19 on Monday and forced to retire from his recovery race in Belgium, must in theory take part in his preparation for the Tour of Spain.
He will aim for the double at the Tour of Lombardy
Tdej Pogacar will take a break after the Clasica to resume at the end of August at the Bretagne Classic, in Plouay, before moving towards the Quebec races, in Quebec and Montreal, then the World Championships at the end of September in Australia.
The 23-year-old rider also plans to run the Tour of Lombardy in October, one of the "monuments" of the cycling season that he had already won last year.
He could become the first runner to complete the double since the Spaniard Joaquim Rodriguez (2012, 2013).