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Follow us on GoogleThe 2026 road cycling season is over! After ten months of road racing, the riders can finally take a break—or hit the fields for the winter. Tadej Pogacar is already preparing for the season and, during a charity press conference, announced his own goals for the upcoming season. And it will likely be quite similar to his 2026 season.
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Pogacar dominated once again this year, with victories in Milan-Sanremo, the Tour of Flanders, Liège-Bastogne-Liège, and the Tour de France.
Pogacar won his 5th Tour de France in 2026
Pogacar talked about the extent of his Vuelta injuries
The Vuelta a España also looked set to fall to the Slovenian rider from UAE Team Emirates-XRG, but a crash left him with a broken vertebra and collarbone. It meant the end of his season, but he’s back on the bike now.
"The injury was pretty serious," Siol noted during the press conference. "Not only my collarbone and vertebrae, but also a concussion, so it took me a while—I’d say about five weeks—to get back on the bike. I’ve been training for just over a week now; I’d say I started a month earlier than usual. Last week was sort of a fresh start to the new season.”
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Pogacar really wanted to compete in the World Championships and European Championships
For a moment, there were rumours about a return to the World Championships, but that turned out to be premature.
“It’s true that I really wanted to compete in the championship. After spending two weeks at home, I started training again on the stationary bike, went to the gym and the physical therapist every day… I absolutely wanted to maintain the form I had during the Vuelta.”
The European Cycling Championships took place a week later, and in his home country, no less. “The European Championships gave me extra motivation for my rehabilitation,” says Pogacar.
“But less than two weeks before the European Championships, I realised there was no point in racing. If I were to crash again, the consequences could be very serious. And that wouldn’t end well.”
Read more below the photo!
Pogacar makes decisions for 2027: 'I would have preferred to go to the Giro, but...'
And so the focus shifted to the upcoming season. And Pogacar already knows how he wants to approach it.
“Since I wrapped up the season a while ago, we’ll have a concrete discussion about what we’re going to do next season. My goal is to ride the World Championships in combination with the Tour and the Vuelta, which didn’t work out this year. Although I’d prefer to ride the Giro, I’ll have to ride the Vuelta at some point.”- Tadej Pohacar to Siol
Pogacar has unfinished business at the Vuelta
The World Championships and the Tour de France certainly won’t come as a surprise, and the Vuelta isn’t out of the question either, since he still has a score to settle there after his serious crash.
But the fact that he’d rather ride the Giro is perhaps a bit surprising. The two-time world champion explains.
One of Italy’s neighboring countries is, of course, Slovenia. In recent years, the Grand Tour has been visiting there more and more often.
“When a Giro stage passes through Slovenia, it’s a unique experience for the Slovenians, on Slovenian roads, for the fans… If that were to happen, it would be phenomenal. But as far as my participation in the next Giro is concerned, that’s highly unlikely.”
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David Bavin-HobbsChief Editor
David has been working in the sports & cycling industry for 16 years. Covering racing, business and technology, he has worked in communications for cycling companies, teams, and as a journalist. His proudest achievement is winning the first bike race he ever entered. He hasn't won a race since.
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Latest Comments
- - The bike may be quick, but the article seems a bit too ready to credit the equipment for the result. Remco’s the one producing those watts—though I’ll admit, two minutes is a pretty convincing test ride.jennifer1918-10-2026
- - I’m still learning how time trials work: if Evenepoel caught Jay Vine, does that mean Vine started earlier, and do riders set off at fixed intervals?tourdeforce918-10-2026
- - A flat Tour TT on these roads would be brilliant viewing. Wide, fast courses really let the specialists show what they can do.davidm18-10-2026
- - Fourteen wins in a season is some going. He sounded focused on his own effort rather than the riders ahead, which is exactly the mindset you want in a race against the clock.michael5418-10-2026
- - Catching Vine and putting over two minutes into him is an enormous statement. That new Specialized clearly suits Remco—keen to see how it performs over a longer Tour time trial.raceready718-10-2026
- I’m still trying to understand the history here—why was insulin being used alongside amphetamines? Was that common in cycling at the time?cyclechamp4518-10-2026
- Hard to take the article’s “recovered” line at face value when it ends by raising concerns about team entourages. Cycling has made huge changes, but scrutiny still matters.velodromevirtuoso118-10-2026
- The detail about riders deliberately pushing him off the road is shocking. Do we know whether anyone ever faced consequences for that?pedalpowe2918-10-2026
- Bassons’ story is a grim reminder of what speaking up could cost in that era. Fair play to him for holding his ground when it meant being isolated by his own team.tourdeforce918-10-2026
- I’m still learning how team contracts work: if Barguil had ended his deal before 2018, could the team have left him out of the Tour, or was his place already agreed?sprocketspiny18-10-2026
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