Pogačar was surprised by Mas's comeback: 'I was a bit in shock'

Tadej Pogac3ar has won half of the stages in the Vuelta a España so far. It’s a dominant statistic, but the Slovenian from UAE Team Emirates-XRG wasn’t quite as dominant in the sixth stage. He was caught by Enric Mas (Movistar) on the grueling final climb. Was this a sign of weakness from the red jersey wearer, or was something else going on?

Going into the stage, the question was whether Pogacar would be up for another stage win. “Our plan was to let the breakaway go, but it lasted two hours,” he said in the flash interview. “In the end, we knew we’d need less than half a stage to take control. João (Almeida, ed.) and Kevin (Vermaerke, ed.) did a great job, after which we were able to go for the stage win. I was set up for a perfect attack.”

He launched that attack right when things got tough. Pogacar accelerated, and at first a few rivals kept up with him. He quickly shook them off, but Mas rode a top-tier climb at his own pace. The gap grew smaller and smaller, and just before the summit, he caught up to the leader. He even overtook him, snatching the mountain points from the voracious rider.

That’s how the Spanish climber proved that Pogacar was far from invincible. Did he know Mas was coming up behind him? “I was really surprised—he flew past me like a rocket,” he laughs. “I didn’t expect that, because I heard over the radio that I had a 40-second lead over the first chasers. Nothing was said about Enric, so I was a bit in shock.”

Pogacar then tried to drop his breakaway companion on the descent, but it almost went wrong. The Slovenian took a lot of risks and made a big mistake. He ended up in the shoulder, but managed to avoid a crash. Mas passed him and gestured for him to stay calm.

The red jersey wearer then decided to stay on Mas’s wheel. “I knew he knew the descent; I was glad he was there in the last ten kilometers, because I didn’t have any water.” In the sprint, it was then a piece of cake. “I knew I could beat him in the sprint, but I appreciated that he kept riding all the way to the finish, just like I did. Hats off to him—it was a great race.”