Tadej Pogačar (3rd) admits after Brennan win: 'I didn't know what to do'

Going for the win and then not winning — it does not happen very often to Tadej Pogačar. But that was the case in the Vuelta a España on Sunday: the UAE Emirates-XRG star was beaten in the sprint by Visma | Lease a Bike's Matthew Brennan. Pogačar explained what happened afterwards, admitting that Visma's tactical plan briefly left him unsure about what he was supposed to do...

For a while, it therefore looked as though Pogačar might lose the red jersey. Thanks to the six bonus seconds Hayter picked up along the way, the Briton could take over the race lead if he finished in the same group as the other general classification contenders. Hayter did not manage that: he was dropped, and with that his dream of taking the red jersey disappeared.

Pogačar had a different objective on Sunday, however. "It was really all-in for the stage win. I had to try to be up there and just follow the accelerations," the Slovenian said afterwards in the flash interview. That was exactly what he did, with Pogačar eventually crossing the line in third place. In doing so, he retained the red jersey.

The world champion had to dig deep to stay in contention. Very deep, in fact. Van Aert accelerated with two kilometres remaining. "It was to be expected, but I was a little late to react," Pogačar said as he looked back on the move. "He opened up a nice gap. Over the top, on the flat section, I really had to put the power down."

For a moment, the move then stalled. "He looked around, and that's when I was able to jump onto his wheel. I should have committed fully if I wanted to have a chance of winning. But he also had Matthew Brennan behind us, so I didn't know what to do," the red jersey wearer admitted candidly afterwards.

Pogačar therefore decided simply to stay on Van Aert's wheel. "Hoping that he would keep going all the way to the finish." He did not, allowing Brennan to come through and take the victory. But the Slovenian also realised how much the effort had already cost him. "There was already quite a lot of lactate in my legs by then. In the end, I'm happy to finish third," Pogačar concluded after the stage.