‘Pogi is Pogi’: Enric Mas takes heart from catching Pogacar despite losing Vuelta sprint

Pogačar claimed his third victory of this Vuelta after attacking on the gravel section of the Puerto El Bartolo with 24 kilometres remaining. Primož Roglič and Oscar Onley were among those initially trying to follow, but only Mas managed to close the gap again.

The Spaniard gradually reeled Pogačar in towards the summit, eventually reaching him before the top and even moving ahead in the final metres of the climb.

Once the pair reached Castelló together, however, Mas knew the stage victory was always going to be difficult.

“There wasn’t much I could do in the sprint,” Mas said afterwards to Eurosport. “Pogi is Pogi.”

Mas took particular encouragement from the contrast with stage 4 in Andorra, where he had been unable to make the same kind of difference.

“Today was a day where we were able to gain something that we couldn’t in Andorra,” he said.

There was also a small reward waiting at the summit. As Mas closed in on Pogačar, his team kept reminding him that bonus seconds were available.

“Rogi [José Joaquín Rojas] and Chente [Chente García Acosta] kept telling me there was the bonus,” Mas explained. “When I caught him, I thought, well, I might as well take it.”

Pogačar raised the pace again on the descent, but briefly went off-road on a tight corner before quickly recovering.

Mas revealed afterwards that he had even warned Pogačar about the danger moments earlier.

“I warned him that there was a tight corner coming,” Mas said.

The moment did not change the outcome. Pogačar regained contact and the two stayed together on the run into Castelló, where the race leader comfortably won the sprint.

Behind them, the damage was considerable. Richard Carapaz, Harold Tejada, Felix Gall, Roglič and Ramses Debruyne finished 46 seconds later after the general classification group had been blown apart on the final climb.

For Mas, second place on the stage also brought second place overall, but he was careful not to turn one strong afternoon into a bigger declaration.

“As I said yesterday, or the day before yesterday, we have to go day by day,” he said. “I’m second at the moment and I’m feeling better and better.”