Tadej Pogačar eyes Paris-Roubaix victory and historic fifth Tour de France title as focal points of confirmed 2026 racing programme

Tadej Pogačar has confirmed that he is chasing a victory at Paris-Roubaix and a historic fifth Tour de France title as the focal points of his racing programme with UAE Team Emirates-XRG in 2026.

The reigning World Champion outlined his spring schedule that includes targeted Monuments: Tour of Flanders, Paris-Roubaix - a race he finished second at this year - and Liège-Bastogne-Liège before turning his attention to stage races that will lead up to his next yellow-jersey bid at the Tour de Romandie and Tour de Suisse.

Asked if he had to choose between winning Paris-Roubaix for the first time or a fifth Tour de France, Pogačar said he would rather have a victory at the Hell of the North.

"I think I would choose Roubaix because I already won the Tour four times, and if you win four or five, it is not ... I think, it's a bigger difference between zero and one than four and five," Pogačar said.

Pogačar confirmed his racing schedule to select members of the media, including Cyclingnews, assembled at a team training camp press conference held at the Four Points Sheraton Hotel in Benidorm, Alicante, Spain, on Saturday.

Pogačar currently has four Tour de France titles, the same number as Chris Froome, but should he secure a fifth victory at the Tour de France, he would tie that record already held by four other champions, and add his name to the Tour's history books alongside Miguel Induráin, Bernard Hinault, Eddy Merckx, and Jacques Anquetil.

At this year's Tour de France, Pogačar finished ahead of runner-up Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) and third-placed Florian Lipowitz (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe), while rival Remco Evenepoel was forced to abandon on stage 14 on the Col du Tourmalet.

Pogačar and Evenpoel had raced neck-to-neck in many of the biggest one-day races of the year. The Belgian has since transferred from Soudal-QuickStep to Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe in 2026 and recently told the media that he too is targeting the Tour de France in a co-leadership role with his new teammate Lipowitz.

Asked if he was 'afraid' of the Evenepoel-Lipowitz alliance for the Tour de France, Pogačar said no.

"I would not say that I am afraid because every year at the Tour, there is the best level of competition," he said. "Everyone is always 100% ready for the Tour. Every team always sends their best squad there. You always know that there are going to be the best guys at the Tour, and you always need to be ready for everyone."

UAE Team Emirates-XRG's media day had already produced one major surprise earlier in the morning with one of Pogačar's key lieutenants, João Almeida, announcing that he would be missing out on the Tour de France in 2026, opting to focus on the Giro d'Italia and Vuelta a España instead.

The decision means that Pogačar will race without one of the team's best climbers by his side as he bids for a record-equalling fifth yellow-jersey title. However, he will have the support of Isaac del Toro, who will make his debut at the Tour de France in 2026.

"I hope so, yes, maybe he can even be better," Pogačar said when asked about Del Toro's future potential in Grand Tour racing. "He is starting his own way, he has his own way and style of riding, and I already admire him as a rider and a person. I hope that he continues in the same way that he has and that he enjoys cycling as much as he is now."

Pogačar had another outstanding season this year, securing 20 victories, including his fourth title at the Tour de France, a second victory at Tour of Flanders, a third victory at Liège-Bastogne-Liège, the overall title at Critérium du Dauphiné, a second consecutive road race title at the World Championship, the road race title at the European Championships, and a historic record-tying fifth victory at Il Lombardia.

He confirmed his racing programme, starting with Strade Bianche before going on to race Milan-San Remo, Tour of Flanders, Paris-Roubaix, Liège-Bastogne-Liège, Tour de Romandie, and Tour de Suisse, all ahead of his main summer focus on the Tour de France.

He told the assembled media that he is looking forward to his new racing schedule and to some of the new targets for this upcoming season.

"My programme will be the Classics, like almost every year, I will start with Strade Bianche and move on to Milan-San Remo, in Italy. Then it is Flanders, Roubaix, Liège-Bastogne-Liège, Tour and then we will see. I think that is good enough. Before the Tour, I will do two races in Switzerland: Romandie and Suisse. I'm looking forward to the new challenges this year," Pogačar said.

Perhaps one of the most impressive results of his spring campaign was the second place in his debut at Paris-Roubaix behind three-time winner Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Deceuninck).

He recently made a surprise visit to Roubaix for a 160km reconnaissance of the Paris-Roubaix course and pavé sectors, which was an early indication that he was already planning to return to the 'Hell of the North' in 2026.

"It was good training. We tested some materials from the team, we got lucky with the weather and had good training, good sensations on the cobbles, and it was a nice experience," Pogačar said.

Pogačar said that it would be a highlight in his career to win Milan-San Remo and Paris-Roubaix, but that he is not 'obsessed' with trying to win every race that he has not yet won.

"If I ever win these two races, I would think - more or less - there is not much more you can do [in his cycling career]," Pogačar said.

"But there is always something else, no? There are a lot of one-week races I haven't been to, the Vuelta, and there are so many things left to try to win in different scenarios. The years are going really fast, and there is not so much time to win everything that is left because there are a lot of races on the calendar; bigger races and smaller races that are super nice.

"I don't rush myself to win these races. I try to win because I haven't won [them], but I'm not obsessed with it, as some people might think."

Turning his attention to the Tour de France, Pogačar said that any one of his teammates would be an asset as he chases his fifth victory. Although it will be months before UAE Team Emirates-XRG announce their full Tour de France squad, he said, building that team requires careful planning.

"There are a lot of ways to build a Tour team: All the guys that were racing with me in the Tour will always remain special to me because it's one month of going through hell to win the Tour. We go through a lot of shit together; your body goes through a lot in these three weeks," he said, noting how his teammates manage stress levels across the three weeks of racing.

"Everyone needs to know why they are there; that is the main thing. On some days, anyone can feel a bit worse, but then we talk to each other to manage things faster. There is never a perfect day for the riders on the team, so you need to communicate well, to know why you are there and then give everything that you have for the plan. You need to get along with the teammates and staff."

In his journey to add his name, yet again, to cycling's history books at the Tour de France, Pogačar was reminded of the phrase: It's hard to get to the top, but even harder to stay on top. To that, he said that while it's been a tough journey at times, it's also been worth it.

"Every year is a little bit different. Every year, there is something that changes, and not every year is the same. I will not deny ... it wasn't easy to arrive at the top. It's not easy to stay at the top, but we work for that really hard," he said.

"Obviously, you get tired during the season. There's a lot of tension, media, and obligations to sponsors, and I would say it's tough but not too bad. I try to enjoy these moments in the last few years where I have been blessed to be on the top, and I try to make the most of it, for my life and for the people around me. It is worth it."