Tadej Pogacar has started his season with a victory at the UAE Tour and is currently defending his red jersey on the Emirates roads. His program has already been written until April, but for several weeks now it has been known that the world champion will not defend his title at the Giro d'Italia.

The final word on hopes of seeing him at the Pink Race comes from Mauro Gianetti, CEO and Team Principal of UAE Emirates XRG, in an interview with L'Equipe: "It's certain that Tadej will not be at the Giro, his season is planned to have him at his peak for the classics and then the Tour de France".

It's not even certain that the Slovenian will choose the Vuelta: "Now we will plan everything to understand if he will race the Tour and the Vuelta or just the Tour. He might do only the Tour. Depending on how the start of the season goes, we will decide in the coming weeks".