Tadej Pogacar to skip Vuelta, focus on one-day races

Tour de France runner-up Tadej Pogacar will return to competition in Spain at the Clasica San Sebastian this week but will skip the final Grand Tour of the season, the Vuelta a Espana, his team UAE Emirates said on Tuesday.

Pogacar narrowly missed winning a third successive Tour de France title, coming second to Jumbo–Visma's Jonas Vingegaard in cycling's biggest race, which finished on Sunday.

UAE Emirates manager Joxean Fernandez Matxin on Sunday told Spain's AS that the team's plan was to have Pogacar compete at the Vuelta, but added that he would have to sit down with the Slovenian rider and "see how he feels after the Tour."

"The 23-year old will be in action as soon as next weekend for the San Sebastian Classic in the Basque Country, before taking a break and building up towards a block of one-day races," UAE Emirates said in a statement on Tuesday.

UAE Emirates added that Pogacar had his sights set on competing at September's UCI Road World Championship in Australia and Il Lombardia in Italy.

The Vuelta a Espana begins in Utrecht on Aug. 19.