Tadej Pogacar wants to alternate between Giro and Vuelta in cycling calendar

Tadej Pogacar would like to see the Giro d'Italia and Vuelta a España swap dates on the calendar in the future. The Vuelta would then be held in May, and the Giro in August/September. The world champion shared this in an interview with AS.

“I always say it would be much better if the Giro and Vuelta swapped dates," said Pogi, who has two reasons for this. "Because of the weather conditions and the opportunity for riders to participate."

With the latter reason, Pogacar seems to be referring mainly to his own participation in the Vuelta a España. The Slovenian would love to win the Vuelta at least once, completing his palmarès with all three Grand Tours, but he hasn’t raced the event since his debut year in 2019. Last year, after a tough Tour de France, he decided not to take part in the Vuelta, although it was initially planned. It's still unclear what the UAE team leader’s schedule will look like next year, but he expects to race the Tour again.

The weather is a frequently cited reason for swapping the Giro and Vuelta's calendar positions. In the Giro, it's common for parts of the route to be canceled because the highest passes in Italy can be impassable due to snowfall in May. In the Vuelta, riders often face extremely hot late-summer or early-autumn weather in Spain. Swapping the dates on the calendar could resolve both issues, the idea goes.