Tadej Pogacar Survives Near-Crash to Claim Third Stage Win at 2026 Vuelta a Espana

There seems to be no stopping the Tadej Pogacar machine after the UAE Team Emirates-XRG rider secured his third stage win in six days at the 2026 Vuelta a Espana. However, Tadej Pogacar was forced to fight all the way by Enric Mas (Movistar Team) before eventually coming out on top in Castello following a brutal day of racing over the 177.4km route.

There was also a huge scare for the Slovenian on the final downhill run to the line when he was forced off-road after overshooting a corner, managing to stay upright and rejoin behind Enric Mas. While it might have lacked the complete domination of his sensational solo victory on Stage 4, it showcased a different kind of resilience from Tadej Pogacar, who is chasing a grand slam of Grand Tour crowns.

His advantage in the general classification is now three minutes and 34 seconds over Enric Mas in second place, after the Spaniard leapfrogged Primoz Roglic (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe), who now sits third, 4:21 behind the leader.

“We had a plan to let the break go today, but it took nearly two hours to form a breakaway, so in the end we had less than half the stage to control,” said Tadej Pogacar. “So Joao [Almeida] and Kevin [Vermaerke] did a great job to keep it together and then I could go for the stage with Jay [Vine] and Pablo [Torres] leading out on the climb and setting me up for a perfect attack.”

“I was really surprised on the top [of the climb], he flew past by me like a rocket. I was not expecting it because I heard on the radio that I was leading by 40 seconds to the second chasers and there was no mention of Enric,” he added.

After seizing control of the race with a mountain masterclass in Andorra, Tadej Pogacar was content to sit tight for much of the day while his teammates calmly kept a 16-man breakaway within reach. With the category-one Puerto El Bartolo looming, the gap to the leaders was trimmed to 1:27 with 30km remaining. Australian UAE climber Jay Vine then drove the pace in the bunch, steadily chewing into the advantage as the breakaway began to splinter.

Only seven riders remained at the front when Tadej Pogacar made his expected move with 3.5km to the summit. As the riders hit the three-kilometre gravel section, Tadej Pogacar surged past Belgium's Ramses Debruyne (WorldTeam Alpecin–Deceuninck), taking the lead with 23km remaining and 2.5km from the top.

Yet Enric Mas refused to back down, producing a superb response to overhaul Tadej Pogacar and reach the summit first to take maximum points. The Spaniard then pressed Tadej Pogacar on the fast, technical descent towards Castello, where the Slovenian suffered his scare before quickly latching back on to Enric Mas' wheel. Tadej Pogacar ultimately used his sharper sprint at the finish to extend his overall lead.

Stage 6 Results

1. Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) 4:12:40
2. Enric Mas (Movistar Team) ”
3. Ramses Debruyne (Alpecin – Premier Tech) +46
4. Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost) ”
5. Harold Tejada (XDS Astana Team) ”

General Classification

1. Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) – XRG 15:38:27
2. Enric Mas (Movistar Team) +3:34
3. Primoz Roglic (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe) +4:21
4. Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost) +4:50
5. Felix Gall (Decathlon CMA CGM Team) +4:55