Valdelinares shows that a Vuelta still exists beyond Pogacar

The climb to Valdelinares lies in the province of Teruel, pockets of which have a lower population density than Siberia. At the turn of the century, the grim demographic outlook and a general sense that the place was being overlooked by the policymakers in Madrid led to the foundation of a local political party with the blunt moniker of Teruel Existe: ‘Teruel exists.”

When the Vuelta a España came this way on Friday afternoon, Felix Gall and his Decathlon CMA CGM offered up a firm reminder that there is existence on this race beyond Tadej Pogačar’s inevitable annexation of another Grand Tour.

After Pogačar showed a hint of vulnerability en route to notching up his third stage win of the Vuelta in Castellón the previous afternoon, many observers expected the Slovenian to be remorseless in hunting another victory in Valdelinares, lest any of the men suffering under his yolk get any ideas about mounting an insurrection.

Instead, Pogačar and UAE Team Emirates-XRG opted to give the early break considerable leeway, and the red jersey group was almost seven minutes behind eventual winner Andreas Leknessund et al come the foot of the final haul up Valdelinares. 

For one day at least, Pogačar seemed to channel Chris Froome or Miguel Induráin by granting clemency to the escapees, and he admitted afterwards that he would have been content to ride calmly to the line in the company of his already distant GC rivals.

As the final climb drew on, however, Decathlon broke the prevailing spirit of détente, with Matthew Riccitello and Gregor Mühlberger offering an injection of pace before Gall unleashed an acceleration of his own 2km from the top.

Pogačar and Enric Mas (Movistar) were the only men able to follow, while the group of podium contenders splintered behind them. In the final push to the line, Gall would claw back 10 seconds on Mas, who had stolen a march on the rest of the podium contenders by catching Pogačar on the Puerto El Bartolo on Thursday and then sticking with him all the way to the finish.

Primoz Roglic (Red Bull), Oscar Onley (Netcompany-Ineos) and Sepp Kuss (Visma Lease a Bike) would concede 23 seconds to Gall by the top of Valdelinares, while Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost) would struggle and ship 1:16 to the Austrian.

It was a successful day’s work for Gall, who moves up to fourth overall and closes to within 11 seconds of Roglic in third. With two weeks and plenty of mountains still to come, Gall has ample reason to believe he can emulate his second-place finish at this year’s Giro d’Italia.

Small wonder Gall wore a smile when he paused to speak with reporters amid the maelstrom of camera crews and soigneurs and even the occasional influencer beyond the finish line atop Valdelinares. 

“It’s a pleasure to race with such a strong team, and it’s nice to have created some gaps today,” Gall told us, heaping praise upon his compatriot Mühlberger for his physical and moral support in the finale.

“When you have such strong teammates, you can actually do something. With Gregor, he’s always there to support us, and he’s always motivated. He always pushes me to try something.”

A few yards away, Mas declared himself satisfied with his outing, despite losing those 10 seconds to Gall, and he remains in second overall, 3:40 behind Pogačar. “I’m pleased with my performance and that of the team,” Mas said. “I was able to move up the GC and gain some time on the rider in third place. But there’s still a long way to go and we have to take it step by step.”

The words were measured, but Mas will surely be heartened by another display that seemed to confirm his place in the firmament of this Vuelta after his remarkable, successful pursuit of Pogačar on 24 hours earlier.

Or as Marca had put it on Friday morning, “Enric Mas has been buried so many times that he ought to be getting a discount at the funeral parlour by now.” His latest resurrection continues, but there will be plenty of twists yet in the battle for the podium spots. 

Onley shipped time at Castelló after, in his own words, “overcooking it” by trying to follow Pogačar, but the Scot recovered sufficiently to limit the damage here and move up to sixth overall in the process, a second behind Sepp Kuss (Visma Lease a Bike). Carapaz was the day’s big loser, dropping three places to seventh at 6:12, but these days, the Ecuadorian tends to finish his Grand Tours better than he starts them and the Vuelta is still long.

But even on a stage where the break was given free rein and where Gall et al reminded us that there is still some suspense in this Vuelta, the day ended with another vivid reminder that one man remains entirely in a race of his own.

Pogačar dutifully tracked Gall’s acceleration and then came through when the Austrian flicked an elbow to ask for a turn. Within a few pedal strokes, he had opened a gap on Gall, seemingly without even trying.

“Tadej was just doing his pace, I wasn’t really focusing on him,” Gall admitted. “You take him out of the equation, I guess. It’s just a race for the podium.”