Tadej Pogacar Wins Vuelta Stage Six After Duel With Enric Mas in Castellon
Tadej Pogacar extended his Vuelta a Espana lead on Thursday, edging Enric Mas in a two-up sprint into Castellon after recovering from an off-road scare on the final descent.
Battle on Puerto El Bartolo
The 177.5-kilometre sixth stage from Alcossebre to Castellon developed into a summit battle on the category-one Puerto El Bartolo, which featured a rough gravel sector near the crest. An early 15-man breakaway established a lead of two and a half minutes over the peloton with 40 kilometres remaining before UAE Team Emirates set the tempo. Climbers Jay Vine and 20-year-old Pablo Torres reduced the margin to 1:27 at the 30-kilometre marker as the escape group fractured.
Tadej Pogacar attacked 3.5 kilometres from the summit, dropping Primoz Roglic, Richard Carapaz, Oscar Onley and Felix Gall before overtaking breakaway survivor Ramses Debruyne on the dirt road. UAE sports manager Joxean Fernandez Matxin noted Pogacar had not scouted the climb, and the race leader misjudged his pacing after radio updates placed the chasing group 40 to 50 seconds behind without mentioning Enric Mas. Mas surged past Pogacar near the crest to take maximum king of the mountains points.
I was really surprised on the top. Enric Mas flew past me like a rocket.
Descent scare and sprint finish
Mas led the descent down Puerto El Bartolo and gestured for caution on the narrow road, but Pogacar moved to the front into a bend. The Slovenian overshot the following sharp corner, drifting onto the gravel and grass beside the tarmac and unclipping to regain control without falling. After recovering his line, Pogacar rejoined Mas, and the two riders shared pacing duties over the final 10 kilometres against a headwind to stay clear of the chasing group.
Pogacar led through the final corner in Castellon and outsprinted Mas to secure stage victory in 4:12:40. The win is Pogacar's third in six days following his victories on stage one and stage four in Andorra, making him the first rider to win three of the first six Vuelta stages since Oscar Freire in 2007.
- A 15-rider breakaway holds a 2:30 lead over the main peloton.
- UAE Team Emirates trims the breakaway gap to 1:27 on approach to the climb.
- Tadej Pogacar attacks on the gravel sector to take the solo lead.
- Enric Mas overtakes Pogacar to cross the summit in first place.
- Pogacar runs off the road on a corner but recovers without crashing.
- Pogacar outsprints Mas in Castellon to win the stage in 4:12:40.
General classification standings
Pogacar and Mas finished 46 seconds ahead of a four-man chase group comprising Debruyne, Carapaz, Gall and Roglic. The stage result expanded Pogacar's general classification lead to 3 minutes and 34 seconds over Mas, who moved into second overall. Roglic dropped to third place, 4 minutes and 21 seconds behind the red jersey.
They say the heat suited me down to the ground, and that's exactly what happened. I did what I had to do, but Pogacar is just Pogacar.
Onley lost over 90 seconds on the climb and dropped to seventh overall while keeping the best young rider jersey. Ireland's Eddie Dunbar and Darren Rafferty finished together in 4:39:26, placing Dunbar 82nd and Rafferty 123rd in the overall standings.
- Enric Mas
- 0 seconds
- Ramses Debruyne
- 46 seconds
- Richard Carapaz
- 46 seconds
- Felix Gall
- 46 seconds
- Primoz Roglic
- 46 seconds
Field changes and upcoming route
British time trial specialist Josh Tarling of Netcompany-Ineos abandoned the race with approximately 120 kilometres remaining. Tarling had started the Vuelta one week after the death of his brother Finlay in a collision during the Volta a Portugal, having placed third on stage one behind Pogacar and Ethan Hayter.
Pogacar is competing to become the ninth male cyclist to win all three Grand Tours, having won five Tours de France and the 2024 Giro d'Italia. The peloton faces a 149.8-kilometre mountain route from Vall D'Alba on stage seven, leading toward the race conclusion in Granada on 13 September.
