BENIDORM, Spain: Cycling superstar Tadej Pogacar of the Team UAE Emirates will try for a fifth Tour de France title in 2026 but is more excited by the two one-day Monuments that have so far eluded him; Paris-Roubaix and Milan San Remo.
The 27-year-old Slovenian was speaking on Saturday at a pre-season training camp at Benidorm in Spain.
“I’m going to do Strade Bianche, Milan-San Remo, the Tour of Flanders, Paris-Roubaix, Liege-Bastogne-Liege, the Tour de Romandie, and the Tour de France. And then we’ll see, that’s already quite a lot,” Pogacar said.
“If I could choose between a win at Roubaix or the Tour, I would choose Roubaix because I have already won the Tour four times,” said Pogacar, who complained of feeling drained during the 2025 Tour.
“There is a bigger difference between zero and one than between four and five,” he added.
Tour de France champion in 2020, 2021, 2024 and 2025, he can join an elite clique of five-time winners alongside Eddy Merckx, Bernard Hinault, Miguel Indurain and Jacques Anquetil next July.
The team also confirmed that last year’s break-out rider Isaac del Toro would also race the Tour de France.
The Mexican burst on to the cycling scene last May when he came close to winning the Giro, finishing second to Simon Yates.
“The team’s idea is for me to learn as much as possible alongside Tadej, whose level I want to reach one day,” said Del Toro.
Pogacar targets Tour de France Paris-Roubaix and Milan-San Remo in 2026
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Pogacar targets Tour de France Paris-Roubaix and Milan-San Remo in 2026
- “If I could choose between a win at Roubaix or the Tour, I would choose Roubaix,” said Pogacar
- “There is a bigger difference between zero and one than between four and five“
Andreeva, Bencic receive walkovers in Dubai
- Mirra Andreeva and Belinda Bencic were both beneficiaries of second-round walkovers at the WTA 1000 event in Dubai on Tuesday, as Jessica Pegula also reached the last 16
DUBAI: Mirra Andreeva and Belinda Bencic were both beneficiaries of second-round walkovers at the WTA 1000 event in Dubai on Tuesday, as Jessica Pegula also reached the last 16.
Russian teenager Andreeva, who received a first-round bye, will face either German Ella Seidel or Romanian Jaqueline Cristian for a quarter-final place after Daria Kasatkina pulled out with a hip injury.
In-form Czech youngster Sara Beljek, who won a title in Abu Dhabi earlier this month, also withdrew with an abdominal injury, handing Bencic a spot in round three.
American fourth seed Pegula cruised through with a 6-4, 6-0 thrashing of Varvara Grachev and will next play compatriot Iva Jovic.
The tournament in Dubai, one of the 10 WTA 1000 competitions, has been severely hit by the withdrawals of world number one Aryna Sabalenka and six-time Grand Slam champion Iga Swiatek.
Second seed Amanda Anisimova had also been given a walkover on Monday after her second-round opponent Barbora Krejcikova pulled out.
Later Tuesday, American Coco Gauff starts her campaign against Russian Anna Kalinskaya.
