[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"header-nav":3,"footer-nav":29,"article-pogacar-targets-vuelta-grand-tour-treble-after-fifth-tour-de-france":82,"category-counts-nav":97,"related-pogacar-targets-vuelta-grand-tour-treble-after-fifth-tour-de-france":107},[4,8,11,14,17,20,23,26],{"label":5,"to":6,"exact":7},"Home","\u002F",true,{"label":9,"to":10},"World Cup","\u002Fworldcup",{"label":12,"to":13},"Standings","\u002Fstandings",{"label":15,"to":16},"Football","\u002Fcategory\u002Ffootball",{"label":18,"to":19},"Basketball","\u002Fcategory\u002Fbasketball",{"label":21,"to":22},"Tennis","\u002Fcategory\u002Ftennis",{"label":24,"to":25},"F1","\u002Fcategory\u002Ff1",{"label":27,"to":28},"Long Reads","\u002Fcategory\u002Flong-reads",{"brand":30,"columns":32,"tagline":80,"copyright":81},{"description":31},"In-depth sports journalism covering football, basketball, tennis, F1, and beyond. Daily analysis, long reads, and expert opinion.",[33,51,59],{"heading":34,"links":35},"Leagues",[36,39,42,45,48],{"label":37,"to":38},"Premier League","\u002Ftag\u002Fpremier-league",{"label":40,"to":41},"La Liga","\u002Ftag\u002Fla-liga",{"label":43,"to":44},"NBA","\u002Ftag\u002Fnba",{"label":46,"to":47},"Formula 1","\u002Ftag\u002Fformula-1",{"label":49,"to":50},"Champions League","\u002Ftag\u002Fchampions-league",{"heading":52,"links":53},"Content",[54,56,57],{"label":55,"to":16},"Analysis",{"label":27,"to":28},{"label":58,"to":16},"Data & Stats",{"heading":60,"links":61},"Company",[62,65,68,71,74,77],{"label":63,"to":64},"Terms of Service","\u002Fservice",{"label":66,"to":67},"Privacy Policy","\u002Fprivacy",{"label":69,"to":70},"Editorial Policy","\u002Feditorial",{"label":72,"to":73},"Contact Us","\u002Fcontact",{"label":75,"to":76},"About Us","\u002Fabout",{"label":78,"to":79},"Website Disclaimer","\u002Fdisclaimer","Built for the love of sport","© SportPulse. All rights reserved.",{"title":83,"slug":84,"category":85,"badge":24,"author":86,"excerpt":87,"date":88,"readTime":89,"image":90,"imageAlt":83,"tags":91,"body":95,"_path":96},"Pogacar Chases Grand Tour Treble With Vuelta Entry","pogacar-targets-vuelta-grand-tour-treble-after-fifth-tour-de-france","long-reads","Marcus Wright","Fresh off a fifth Tour de France crown, Tadej Pogacar lines up for the Vuelta targeting all three Grand Tours in a single season.","2026-08-03 12:36:31","2 min read","\u002Fimages\u002Farticles\u002Fpogacar-targets-vuelta-grand-tour-treble-after-fifth-tour-de-france.webp",[92,93,94],"Grand Tours","Vuelta a Espana","Cycling","## Pogacar Backs Up Tour Win With Vuelta Commitment\n\n**Tadej Pogacar** will start this month's **Vuelta a España**, aiming to complete a Grand Tour treble that no male rider has achieved in a single calendar year. The announcement lands weeks after the Slovenian secured his **fifth Tour de France** title.\n\nPogacar has already banked the **Giro d'Italia** in May and the Tour in July. The Vuelta, starting **August 26**, is the final leg of a project that demands sustained peak condition across roughly four months of racing.\n\nGrand Tours are spaced to allow recovery, not to encourage stacking. Most GC leaders target one, perhaps two, and treat the third as preparation for the following season. Pogacar, backed by a **UAE Team Emirates** squad built around his ambitions, is rejecting that model.\n\nWinning all three in a single season would place Pogacar in unprecedented territory for male professional cycling. **Eddy Merckx** won all three across the 1970s but never within the same calendar year. **Bernard Hinault** and **Stephen Roche** each claimed the Giro-Tour double, but neither added the Vuelta in the same season.\n\nThe Vuelta's late-summer slot is both the opportunity and the obstacle. Riders arriving from the Tour carry residual fatigue that often surfaces in the third week. Pogacar's team will need to manage his exertion across **21 stages** while fielding a squad capable of controlling breakaways and protecting his position on the climbs.\n\n**Pogacar at 26** is already in the conversation as the most complete stage racer of his generation. His recent dominance has come through explosive climbing, improved time-trialling, and aggressive stage tactics. He leads from the front rather than nursing a lead through conservative racing. The Vuelta's parcours, typically heavy on summit finishes and selective mountain stages, plays into that approach.\n\nA Vuelta start confirms Pogacar's intent to chase outright historic landmarks rather than manage his legacy conservatively. UAE's commitment to the project, from staffing to equipment logistics, reflects a full-season investment in a single rider's calendar.\n\nFor the Vuelta itself, Pogacar's presence elevates the race's profile. Organisers now have the sport's biggest star targeting their event with a concrete historic purpose. Rivals who might have viewed the Vuelta as an open opportunity now face a rider operating at peak form with a specific goal.\n\nIf Pogacar succeeds, he widens the gap between himself and the current field to a degree that reshapes how the peloton approaches Grand Tour planning. The standard he is setting is dominance across the entire season, compressed into the most demanding format the sport offers.","\u002Farticles\u002Fpogacar-targets-vuelta-grand-tour-treble-after-fifth-tour-de-france",[98,99,100,101,102,103,104,105,85,106],"analysis","basketball","cricket","f1","football","general","golf","mma","tennis",[108,121,133],{"id":109,"stem":109,"path":110,"title":111,"category":85,"badge":112,"badgeType":113,"author":114,"authorRole":115,"authorInitials":116,"date":117,"readTime":89,"image":118,"imageAlt":111,"tags":119,"excerpt":120},"ela-letton-jones-wales-first-commonwealth-games-medal-para-swimming","\u002Farticles\u002Fela-letton-jones-wales-first-commonwealth-games-medal-para-swimming","Letton-Jones Delivers Wales' First Glasgow Medal in the Pool","Long Reads: Feature","category","James Chen","Senior Football Analyst","JC","2026-07-24 18:51:39","\u002Fimages\u002Farticles\u002Fela-letton-jones-wales-first-commonwealth-games-medal-para-swimming.webp","Commonwealth Games, Para-Swimming, Wales","Teenager Ela Letton-Jones opened Team Wales' Commonwealth Games account with a silver in para-swimming.",{"id":122,"stem":122,"path":123,"title":124,"category":85,"badge":112,"badgeType":113,"author":125,"authorRole":126,"authorInitials":127,"date":128,"readTime":129,"image":130,"imageAlt":124,"tags":131,"excerpt":132},"rugby-brain-injury-cases-high-court-medical-documents","\u002Farticles\u002Frugby-brain-injury-cases-high-court-medical-documents","Rugby Governing Bodies Ask High Court to Dismiss Brain Injury Lawsuits","Sarah Martinez","Transfer Correspondent","SM","2026-07-22 15:46:40","4 min read","https:\u002F\u002Fichef.bbci.co.uk\u002Face\u002Fstandard\u002F976\u002Fcpsprodpb\u002Fa1eb\u002Flive\u002F335e7ba0-85de-11f1-9837-c51febdbeb82.jpg","Rugby, Brain Injury, High Court, Player Welfare","Lawyers for rugby's governing bodies argue missing medical records should sink landmark brain injury claims from former players.",{"id":134,"stem":134,"path":135,"title":136,"category":85,"badge":15,"badgeType":113,"author":86,"authorRole":137,"authorInitials":138,"date":139,"readTime":140,"image":141,"imageAlt":136,"tags":142,"excerpt":143},"england-argentina-1998-2002-world-cup-drama-revisited","\u002Farticles\u002Fengland-argentina-1998-2002-world-cup-drama-revisited","Blood, Spice, and Vengeance: Inside England vs Argentina's World Cup Wars","SportPulse Contributor","MW","2026-07-13 17:48:18","6 min read","https:\u002F\u002Fi.guim.co.uk\u002Fimg\u002Fmedia\u002F71849608a154f4685034829ebac32f1142377fd2\u002F545_45_2593_2075\u002Fmaster\u002F2593.jpg?width=140&quality=85&auto=format&fit=max&s=fd8b7c6e7de13cac8318f91f9bd5a84d","World Cup, England, Argentina","Two World Cups, two unforgettable nights. Simeone, Owen, and Hoddle relive the fierst trans-continental derby in football."]