Tadej Pogacar will bid to complete a clean sweep of the Grand Tours as he returns to the Vuelta a Espana for the first time in seven years.

Pogacar wrapped up a fifth Tour de France title with another dominant performance in July, and has now been confirmed as the leader of a strong UAE Team Emirates XRG unit for the race in Spain.

The Slovenian has not competed in the race since announcing his arrival as a stage-racing force with a third-place finish in 2019, and will bid for a first red jersey.

The winner of the Giro d’Italia in 2024, a Vuelta triumph would make Pogacar the ninth male rider to win the general classification at all three of cycling’s three-week races.

“I’m excited to say I’m going back to La Vuelta. It was my first ever Grand Tour back in 2019 and an amazing experience,” Pogacar said. “Spain is a country I love to visit and race in and I think the time is right to go back.

“The motivation is high to finish off the year in a good way and the Vuelta will be a big target. The team is strong and we hope to do good things.”

The Vuelta begins in Monaco, where Pogacar resides, on 22 August, and will cross in France and Andorra before finishing in Granada on 13 September.

Pogacar can count on strong support from Joao Almeida – second in last year’s race – Jay Vine and Pavel Sivakov, with a strong climbing trio likely to be useful in the high mountains. The talented young Spaniard Pablo Torres will make his Grand Tour debut on home roads.

Primoz Roglic, Pogacar’s compatriot, and Wout van Aert are among the other big names due to race the Vuelta.