The news of Pogacar’s withdrawal will make Jonas Vingegaard the overwhelming favourite for this year’s Vuelta. The Dane has never won a Grand Tour outside the Tour de France, having finished second to teammate Sepp Kuss in 2023, and showed in the final week of the Tour that he is back climbing at his best level.

Vingegaard had a tough first week time trial and also a big setback on the Hautacam stage, where he effectively won the Tour in 2023, but he then showed signs of improvement on stage 13's uphill time trial and again in the final Pyrenean stage at Superbagnères.

Tadej Pogačar blasted his way to a fourth Tour de France victory on Sunday, besting rival Jonas Vingegaard by 4:24 across the famed Champs-Élysées finish line