Tadej Pogačar takes thrilling stage 1 victory at the Vuelta a España

On his adopted home roads of Monaco, Tadej Pogačar began the Vuelta a España in perfect fashion by winning stage 1 by less than a second. Pipping Ethan Hayter (Soudal Quick-Step) to the day’s victory by just 0.09 seconds, the UAE Team Emirates-XRG man takes the red race leader’s jersey for the first time in his career.

As the penultimate rider down the start ramp, all eyes were on Pogačar on Saturday evening, with the Slovenian making his first appearance at the Vuelta since 2019. The reigning two-time world champion would not disappoint.

Powering along the 9.4km-long course, Pogačar was two seconds down on Hayter at the intermediate time split, but upped his pace in the second half of the route. By the finish, it was a tense encounter as the seconds ticked by. Hayter, who had recently removed Josh Tarling (Netcompany INEOS) from the hot seat, could be proud of his efforts, but was forced to settle for second place.

As for Pogačar, the UAE Team Emirates-XRG rider put all of his local knowledge to great use across an incredibly technical course. Ramping up his effort through the back straight, the five-time Tour de France champion narrowly edged out Hayter and claimed his fourth career Vuelta stage win.

For the 27-year-old, it is his 36th Grand Tour stage victory, adding to the six Giro d’Italia and 26 Tour de France stage wins in his illustrious palmarès. Returning to the Vuelta for the first time since his third-place finish as a Grand Tour rookie in 2019, the Slovenian tops the general classification after the first day of racing.

Elsewhere, UAE Team Emirates-XRG made a strong showing across the board in Monaco, with Jay Vine, Ivo Oliveira, and João Almeida all finishing inside the top 20 in the stage 1 ITT.

Pogačar: “It’s a weird feeling to win the opening time trial by such a small margin. I was not expecting it. And this red is a really nice colour. For sure, I think I gained that 0.09 seconds when we passed in front of my apartment, because that was the most technical part of the course. I walk and cycle there every day. Even though it’s completely different in a race, knowing these roads super well helped me a lot today.

“When I was going to the start line, I saw that Josh [Tarling] had the best time. I really wanted him to win today, I was rooting for him. Then I came to the intermediate, and I heard a different name, it was Ethan Hayter in front of me by three seconds. I gave it all, without taking risks. And I would really like to see Josh perform well in this Vuelta.

“[Keeping the Red Jersey for three weeks] is going to be tough. Already tomorrow, some guys can break away or take it with bonus seconds. It’s going to be tight for the Red Jersey, and we can see some shuffling in the GC.”

Vuelta a España 2026 stage 1 results:

1. Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) 10:57

2. Ethan Hayter (Soudal Quick-Step) +0.09″

3. Joshua Tarling (Netcompany INEOS) +4″

Vuelta a España 2026 general classification after stage 1:

1. Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) 10:57

2. Ethan Hayter (Soudal Quick-Step) s.t

3. Joshua Tarling (Netcompany INEOS) +4″

Isaac del Toro made an audacious attack on stage 3 of the Lidl Deutschland Tour and regained the race leader’s jersey. The Mexican finished second to his good friend Giulio Pellizzari (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe) on Saturday afternoon, and moves into the race lead with a handsome advantage of 52 seconds.

It was a super team display from UAE Team Emirates-XRG, with the Emirati squad instrumental in setting up Del Toro’s move.

Earlier in the afternoon, Nils Politt and Vegard Stake Laengen had neutralised a dangerous breakaway of 12 riders, before the pair unleashed an infernal pace heading into the day’s toughest climb at 36km to go. Thanks to their efforts, António Morgado was at the head of the race to deliver the final stinging lead-out for Del Toro.

By the time the Mexican made his move, many of his direct rivals in the general classification had been dropped, and the 22-year-old was able to press on in search of the final remaining breakaway man, Nelson Oliveira (Movistar).

Oliveira was soon caught, and Pellizzari emerged from the peloton to join Del Toro and the Movistar rider at the head of proceedings. For a while the trio pushed on, before Oliveira ultimately had to yield to the pace.

Onwards, Pellizzari and Del Toro combined to share the workload and extend their advantage over those chasing from behind (including the race leader, Visma-Lease a Bike’s Louis Barré).

At the finish, Pellizzari rolled across the line to take the stage win, as Del Toro could settle for the big prize of moving into the race lead. The UAE Team Emirates-XRG rider now holds the blue jersey and will head into Sunday’s final stage intent on delivering the overall crown.

Del Toro: “We tried today, we knew it would be a special day. With the whole team we managed to make a proper good lead-out, and have it all in control. We can be super happy with the performance and thanks to the team, I came back into the leader’s jersey.

“If you see the parcours, it is not that simple to take away from the other riders. We decided to do it because a little bit before, everybody started to be a little bit too smart, and we knew we wanted to do something. We didn’t like to be in the defensive when we don’t even have the jersey. It was fun, we tried on the third-to-last climb, and it went ok!

“I hope to finish it off. It will be a tricky day tomorrow but we have the ambition to finish the job.”

Lidl Deutschland Tour 2026 stage 3 results:

1. Giulio Pellizzari (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe) 4:03:44

2. Isaac del Toro (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) s.t

3. Marc Hirschi (Tudor Pro Cycling) +34″

8. António Morgado (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) +49″

Lidl Deutschland Tour 2026 general classification after stage 3:

1. Isaac del Toro (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) 14:02:12

2. Louis Barré (Visma-Lease a Bike) +52″

3. Marc Hirschi (Tudor Pro Cycling) +1:05

Meanwhile, over in France, Davide Stella took a brilliant stage win for the UAE Team Emirates Gen Z squad at the Tour de l’Avenir. The Italian proved the fastest finisher on stage 3 of the race that regularly heralds the future champions of cycling.

Just two days after Stella was announced as UAE Team Emirates-XRG’s latest signing to the WorldTour squad for 2027, the young sprinter emerged triumphant at the most important race in the U23 calendar.

Earlier in the day, Heimo Fugger had been in the breakaway for UAE Team Emirates-XRG’s development squad, before the Gen Z talents turned their attention to helping Stella in the finale.

In the final 10km, it was teammate Enea Sambinello who did a terrific job of piloting Stella into the closing metres. With the opportunity of a stage win in front of him, Stella did not turn his nose up at the chance.

Powering his bike to the line in Saint-Vallier, the 20-year-old beat Thomas Capra (Bahrain Victorious Development Squad) and David Lewandowski (Poland) to the stage win. It was the perfect way to celebrate his impending promotion to the WorldTour.

Tour de l’Avenir 2026 stage 3 results:

1. Davide Stella (UAE Team Emirates Gen Z) 4:57:47

2. Thomas Capra (Bahrain Victorious Development Squad) s.t

3. David Lewandowski (Poland) s.t

Tour de l’Avenir general classification after stage 3:

1. Kasper Haugland (Decathlon CMA CGM Development Team) 10:35:30

2. Niels Driesen (Lotto-Groupe Wanty) s.t

3. Lorenzo Finn (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe Rookies) s.t