Tadej Pogačar responds to suggestions that he was frustrated in the Vuelta: 'Happy or not happy, the day is over'

Was Tadej Pogačar frustrated or not during the final stretch of the seventh stage of the Vuelta a España? Enric Mas stated afterward that the Slovenian’s attack was born out of frustration, after Decathlon CMA CGM began setting the pace for Felix Gall on the final climb. The red jersey wearer himself explained the situation afterward.

It was Mas who suggested to Eurosport afterward that Pogačar had been riled. “I think he got a little angry at a few points during the race, and that’s why he rode that way.”

The Slovenian himself said afterward that he would have preferred to maintain the pace set by his own teammates. “Gall launched the attack, but then he left a gap. So I just kept going at the same pace we’d been keeping before that. That was it.”

"When I saw that they couldn't keep up with me, I pushed on to the top of the climb and gained a small lead. We're here to win the general classification, not to mess around," he said somewhat curtly in his flash interview.

"To be honest, I would have preferred it if we had ridden at our own pace as a team," Pogacar admitted to Eurosport. "But Decathlon joined in and really set a blistering pace. So yeah, I think the general classification was completely shattered. It was pretty tough."

"Enric Mas even said in his interview that there were reasons not to be entirely happy with those last five kilometers. Do you agree with that?" Laura Meseguer of Eurosport asked him point-blank. "Well, happy or not happy... For me, the day is over. All in all, it was a good day for us. We managed it well and didn’t waste too much energy.”

"Okay, they went full throttle at the end, but that's racing. Everyone has their own reasons for going full throttle. Decathlon tried to attack, and I think they did a good job of it. Climbing suits them well, too, so they have to give it a shot. Hats off to them," said Pogacar.

"Well, I'm always riding right at the front, so I don't really see what's happening right behind me either. I can't say much about that. I see a lot less than you guys do on TV, and from a completely different perspective, too. For me, it was a pretty straightforward day,” said Pogacar, who didn’t put his own teammates to work during the stage.

"I think it would have been possible, but it’s still better that we saved some energy as a team. We could have pushed hard today and gone all out again, but all things considered, it was a great day to race—not necessarily easy, but certainly a little less hectic than yesterday. I think Stage 9 will be one of the toughest stages of this Vuelta,” he says, already looking ahead to Sunday.