Tadej Pogacar explains his 50-kilometer solo breakaway at the Vuelta: ‘ Any lead is a bonus’

On Tuesday, Tadej Pogacar did exactly what everyone expected of him: he won by a huge margin in Andorra. In the short, grueling mountain stage, he secured a victory with a lead of more than two minutes over his competitors, further solidifying his hold on the red leader’s jersey in the Vuelta a España. “It’s becoming less stressful,” he said afterward.

On the first climb of the day, UAE Emirates-XRG immediately took control, but in the end it was Decathlon CMA CGM that set the race ablaze. That turned out to be an open invitation for Pogacar to go solo with 50 kilometers to go and ultimately claim his longest solo victory in a Grand Tour in his career.

"The pace was already super fast on the throttle right from the base. When Jay let me pass him on Decathlon’s wheel, I knew: okay, I don’t want to get isolated from all those general classification contenders, because otherwise they’ll all gang up on me,” Pogacar revealed the reasoning behind his attack.

"I tried to attack on the climb. When I saw that I could open up a gap, I just hoped I could hold on until the finish. It worked out. It was really tough, but it’s a wonderful feeling,” he explains. Thanks to that comfortable lead, he now also has a substantial advantage in the general classification: second-place Primoz Roglic is already 3.21 minutes behind.

"To be honest, any lead is a bonus. This is fantastic, because now I can head into the coming days with peace of mind and a lot of confidence. We're taking it day by day and staying focused. Hopefully, after this stage, the pressure will ease up a bit," said Pogacar.

The Slovenian had a special connection to Andorra, because that was where he won his first stage in a Grand Tour in 2019. “At that moment, I never would have dared to imagine that I’d ever race at this level. I have truly wonderful memories of that first time in Andorra. It was fantastic and remains one of the best moments of my career. I’ll never forget that day.”

"The same question as on Day 1: Will you wear the red jersey from start to finish?" was the final question from the flash interviewer on duty. “Never say never, but we have a nice lead right now. We’re going to do everything we can to control the race every day. If it really becomes uncontrollable, then we’ll have to fight, but it’s going to be tough either way. Fortunately, we have a rock-solid team, so we’re ready for it.”