'I struggled to understand it' - Romeo raises eyebrows at Decathlon strategy as Mas bows to Pogacar superiority

Iván Romeo admitted there was some confusion inside the peloton over Decathlon CMA CGM's tactics on stage 4 of the Vuelta a España, after a brutally hard day in Andorra ended with Tadej Pogačar putting more than three minutes into his general classification rivals.

Romeo eventually crossed the line as part of a large gruppetto, many minutes behind Pogačar, after UAE Team Emirates XRG had made the race difficult almost from the flag.

“The race was hard,” Romeo said after the finish to Eurosport. “From the start, we had the idea of trying to get into the breakaway, but as soon as the flag dropped UAE went full gas, so we could already see they weren’t going to allow much.”

Decathlon then took responsibility for much of the pace setting on the Port d'Envalira and towards the Collada de Beixalís, despite Pogačar appearing to be comfortably the strongest rider in the race.

Their approach left Romeo and several others wondering what the French team hoped to gain.

“Decathlon also made the race hard. I don’t know whether people watching at home understood it, because I found it a little difficult to understand myself,” he said.

“Everyone has their own tactics and that’s just how it is.”

Romeo stressed that he was not criticising Decathlon, but admitted their willingness to make the race harder was surprising given the strength of Pogačar and UAE.

“It’s not meant as criticism or anything,” he said. “It’s just a bit surprising when you see a team that is so superior. I think it surprised all of us. We were talking about it in the group as well, but it’s their race.”

The Spaniard suggested Pogačar's 50 kilometre solo attack ultimately underlined the scale of the challenge facing every other team.

“I think Pogačar has also put all of us in our place a little,” Romeo said. “Sooner or later, that was going to happen.”

“I just hope they loosen their grip a little more as well, because otherwise there aren’t going to be many opportunities.”

Romeo had been close enough to see Pogačar make his decisive move and said there was little surprise that the Slovenian chose the first mountain stage to establish the hierarchy.

“I was right there at that moment,” he said. “We imagined he might do something like that, because on the first mountain stage he always likes to make things clear. I think he made things very clear to all of us.”

At the front of the race, Movistar leader Enric Mas reached a similarly stark conclusion.

Pogačar went clear with 50 kilometres remaining and finished the day with a general classification lead of 3:21 over Primož Roglič, with Mas a further 11 seconds back in third. Behind them, the podium contest is tight, with second to seventh covered by 36 seconds.

For the Spaniard, the battle for the red jersey is effectively already settled.

“We’re fighting for second place, for the podium, and that’s the reality,” Mas told Eurosport after the finish. “We already knew that before we got here.”

Mas had anticipated Pogačar making a significant difference on the first major mountain test and was among the strongest of the chasers once the Slovenian disappeared up the road.

While Movistar had been aggressive during the opening part of the stage, Decathlon later took control of the pace before Pogačar launched his attack.

“The team was a 10 out of 10. They set a really hard pace,” Mas said. “Although I wasn’t able to take any seconds today, I’m very happy.”

The chase behind Pogačar fractured repeatedly. Felix Gall and Oscar Onley initially opened a gap before Roglič bridged across. Mas followed with Sepp Kuss, while Richard Carapaz, Mattias Skjelmose and Jarno Widar later returned on the descent ahead of the Alto de la Comella.

“We were in a very good group, then the Carapaz group came back to us on the descent and we continued,” Mas said.

Second to seventh overall are separated by just 36 seconds, leaving the podium battle finely poised even if Mas believes first place is already out of reach.

“We’ll keep battling,” he said.

His assessment of the rider now firmly in control of the Vuelta was even simpler.

“The reality is that Tadej Pogačar is the best.”