Pogacar’s 7w/kg Andorra raid shows the Vuelta problem facing his rivals

Stage 4 of this year’s Vuelta wasn’t supposed to be the end of the 21-stage race. It was only 105 kilometers in Andorra la Vella, a short mountain stage in the first week of the Grand Tour. But with the 6.5km Collada de Beixalis at the halfway point, an invitation to the launching pad was sent to Pogačar. 

After hardly an hour of racing, Decathlon CMA CGM Team took the reins at the head of the peloton. They truly believe that Felix Gall is the second-best rider in this year’s Vuelta, and for a few moments, it certainly looked that way. 

Instead of Gall attacking, it was Pogačar who initiated the acceleration, dancing away from the field with only Gall on his wheel. It all looked so easy for Pogačar, who never once bore an expression of pain on his face. He simply pegged it at threshold and rode Gall off his wheel. That relentless pace is likely around Pogačar’s threshold, or maybe slightly above it for this sub-20-minute effort. 

Pogačar climbed the Collada de Beixalis at more than 22 kph, a ridiculous average speed for a climb with an average gradient of 8.6%. His time of 17:34 is more than a minute faster than the previous climbing record, and you could see that he wasn’t even riding all-out. 

Pogačar – Collada de Beixalis Climbing Record
Time: 17:34
Estimated Power: ~7w/kg

We’ve seen Pogačar ride at 6.9-7w/kg for 35-40 minutes before, specifically, on Plateau de Beille in 2024 and Alpe d’Huez in 2026. This effort on the Collada de Beixalis was less than half that time, which is why it looked so comfortable for Pogačar. 

On top of that, the Collada de Beixalis was only 54km into Stage 4 of La Vuelta, meaning that Pogačar was significantly fresher than his other climbing performances which typically come in the second or third week of a Grand Tour. 

This performance is a sign of things to come in this Vuelta because not only is Pogačar a league above his competitors, he is multiple leagues ahead of them. After descending the Collada de Beixalis, Pogačar climbed the Coll d’Ordino more than a minute faster than the chase group that had formed behind. 

This included the likes of Gall, Richard Carapaz, Sepp Kuss, and Primož Roglič. These are world-class riders who are losing 5-10 seconds per kilometer to a solo Pogačar. 

By the time they reached the finish in Andorra, Pogačar was nearly three minutes ahead of the chasers who were led in by Jarno Widar. It looked like Pogačar hardly broke a sweat. At least at the Tour de France, he was trying to drop Jonas Vingegaard before the Dane crashed out. Now, it looks like Pogačar is going to do a threshold workout on each mountain stage. 

The question is not, ‘how many stages can Pogačar win this Vuelta?’ Instead, it would be better to ask him how many stages he wants to win. As the stages get hillier and longer, it will be harder and harder for UAE Team Emirates-XRG to control strong breakaways. 

Pogačar can drop his rivals with ease, but he can’t always catch a 30-rider break that starts the final climb eight minutes ahead of the peloton. In terms of pure climbing performances, keep an eye on Stage 6, which features a 9.8km climb that includes a 2km gravel section with an average gradient of more than 11%.