Take3 weeks ago
Jeroen Swart's warning isn't about false modesty: the Vuelta a España 2026 route—58,156 meters of climbing and a first mountain test already on stage 4 in Andorra—leaves Pogačar no room for a slow build.
The Giro and Tour have allowed UAE to control the pace and wait for the right moment. The Vuelta demands immediate action and no respite. Seven summit finishes, 3.5 km of gravel on the Cat-1 climb of El Bartolo on stage 6—these are technical variables absent from Pogačar's recent Grand Tour wins. Swart isn't predicting defeat. He's describing a route that doesn't forgive tactical pauses, even for the peloton's strongest team.
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