THEMOVE - Is Pogačar's Grip on This Vuelta More Fragile Than We Thought? | La Vuelta a España 2026 Stage 6 | THEMOVE
Episode Date: August 27, 2026Johan Bruyneel and Spencer Martin break down a thrilling day of racing, which saw Tadej Pogačar reeled in by Enric Mas before the two rode clear of the rest of the GC contenders and sprinted for the ...stage win. They discuss what to make of Pogačar's failure to ride clear, Mas' incredible form, and how Pogačar's mistake on the descent showed the fragility of a GC campaign. They also go over the Green Jersey standings, what to make of Decathlon controlling the early breakaway, and predict the outcome of tomorrow's tough Stage 7, which features a day of tough climbing and a summit finish. Become a WEDŪ Member Today to Unlock VIP Access & Benefits: https://access.wedu.team Ultra Pouches: Ultra is the ultimate guilt-free pouch — delivering instant focus and mental clarity, without nicotine or caffeine. New customers can use code THEMOVE to get 15% off at https://TakeUltra.com. After you purchase, they will ask you where you heard about them. PLEASE support our show and tell them our show sent you. Eight Sleep: Use code THEMOVE at https://eightsleep.com/themove for up to $350 off. 30 days to try it at home. Free returns if it's not for you.
Transcript
Discussion (0)
I think personally, after six stages, we have Pogacca in the lead,
Enrikmas in second, Primus Roglisch in third.
I think that's the podium of the Valta.
Interesting.
Interesting.
Don't know in which order, but I think these three guys will be on the podium.
The only thing is, did Phyllis call up the best climb of the day?
He was flying up that climb.
It just, he started so far back for reasons unclear to me.
That's the only thing.
would worry about if I was Roglitch's
Gall, I mean, Gaul was
cruising up that climb and then
what happens when he gets...
I think Rogliss is going to get better.
I mean, he's getting more and more confidence.
But yeah, I mean, you're right.
We can't count out
Felix Gall.
He's a good climber.
You know, he's getting into it.
He had to mean, although he made a mistake
by being out of position, but
he did have good legs today.
that's for sure. So let's keep him there. But I think those three are going to be the podium.
Everybody, welcome back to the Move podcast. I'm Spencer Martin. I'm here with Johann Bernal. We're breaking down stage six of the Vuelta
Banya, as well as previewing tomorrow's stage seven with our outcome stage preview. Stage six,
Johan was one of the craziest stages I've seen in a long time of a grand tour. I thought it would be
pretty straightforward. It was not straightforward. We didn't see it, but the first two hours were controlled. No breakaway.
get away. As soon as the coverage came on, it looked like DeCathlon was the one keeping the
breakaway on a tight leash. I have no idea why. Tadipagacra got a little fed up with this. So he jumped
in a move himself, started pulling, bridging up to the break. I believe to make a point. The point was
made, DeCathlon, let the break go. But then, you know, it's all coming up UAE because then they
had a shorter amount of time to control the gap. We didn't know it at the time, but Rasmus DeBriana
was in the breakaway. Incredible client.
talk about a result from that Alpacan Premier Tech rider.
But UA keeps a good leash on it.
They get to the final climb.
Set up Pagacha for the attack on the steepest part of on the steepest slope.
Game over, right?
Pagatja rides away.
No, not game over because Enric Moss bridges up to him,
blows by him on the descent or on the top of the climb,
leads on the descent.
You're thinking, oh, Enric Moss is going to slow these guys down.
He's telling Pagotcha, slow down, slow down.
Pagach doesn't listen to him.
cuts inside on a corner, then rides off the road.
Should have listened to Enric Moss.
He gets really lucky Lance-esque.
He kind of goes into the rocks, gets back on the road.
I can't believe he didn't flat.
But then those two guys ended up working out for the best, I believe,
because they worked extremely well together to the finish holding off.
Primos Rogledge and Richard Carapaz and Felix Gall and Chase Group behind.
I believe it was as close as almost 13 seconds at one point as 46 seconds by the finish.
Oscar Anli, Sepkuz, Mateus Shkelmoza,
Anli, who probably went too deep following Pagachar initially finishes 138 back,
Wishkel Moza and Coos, those guys can't be too pleased with that,
but there is a lot of road left to race.
But Johan, what is your eight-sleep move of the day?
And if you want an eight-sleep mattress top or just like Tata Pagata this race,
go to eightsleep.com slash the move for $350 off through the end of this Valta.
but Johan, what was your move of the day?
Well, Spencer, my eight-sleep move of the day is for sure.
For once I'm not going to say, Pugachar, it has to be Enrique Mastiff.
It has to be.
Has to be.
It's been, it's been, I mean, it's been a long time since we've seen something like this.
Similar to, although I think better, 2004, I guess, when Jonas Winkigard caught up to him.
on that last climb and then won the sprint in the stage in the stage 11 of the
224 tour yeah yeah I remember Jonas also tried to sprint for the bonifications on the
top of that climb he didn't get it and he must actually caught up to him and took the
bonification from pogratja pogachar did not know apparently that he was coming so I'm guessing
a bit of
miscommunication
within UAE.
It is hectic, of course.
We don't know
what information
comes through.
But Pogacar said
that he had information
about Roglidge and
Felix Gall being 40 seconds down.
They had never mentioned
Enric Mas.
And then
Enric Musk catches up with him
and flies by him.
Pogaccha himself said
he was extremely surprised.
So,
Yeah, we've seen one guy do this recently, right recently in the last two years, which is Jonas.
But you know, there's one other rider, Spencer, who a few years ago actually dropped Bogachar in a race.
And then a few days later stayed with him when Bogachar attacked.
You know who that was?
Is this on a grand tour or another stage race?
No, no, no.
it's in another race.
Dropped Pagachar, not in a stage race.
Yeah.
I don't know.
Is it Remko?
It's Enrique Mas.
Wait.
What was this?
Enrique Mas in 1929.
Not all.
In 2022, he dropped Tare Pugacar on the last climb in Giro de Emilia.
Oh.
And then a few.
Oh, yes.
And then a few days later, he managed to stay.
with Pogacar in Tour of Lombardy,
went to the finish, and of course,
Pugachar beat him. So,
you know, this is not a total surprise.
Enric Mast,
when Enric Muss is really on top of his game,
he's an unbelievably good rider, you know,
and I said it in our, in our, in our talk before the show here,
he,
if you look back at Enrique Mast,
okay, he's had a few years now where
he had bad luck and, you know,
the season didn't go his way,
a few seasons already that he doesn't,
he's not in the game for GC.
But if you look back,
he's already three times second in the Vuelta,
one time third,
one time fifth,
one time six,
he was top five in the two to France.
You know,
you have to be a really good rider to do that.
People always,
and especially in Spain,
he gets a lot of criticism
for not attacking,
for not being aggressive,
but hey,
you know what?
I mean,
if that's what you can do,
if your best way of racing is ride your own tempo and be as close as possible to the best guys.
I mean, only those few results I said there, that's already impressive.
There's not many riders who have that many podiums in Grand Tours.
He has four podiums, right?
He has four.
Three times second and one time third.
And one time third.
And almost more impressive than that.
He has one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight top sixes in Grand Tours.
Yeah.
As you say, there's not many riders that have that.
So obviously the surprise right now is that he's coming back at an incredible good level.
The best we've ever seen him, I think, since many, many years.
I think a lot of people, especially the press here in Spain, have said many times,
okay, Enric Moss is done.
You know, he's on his way back.
You know, he's also not a great communicator.
You know, his interviews are not great, always very conservative, you know, but if you look at face value, he's a very good writer, man.
He's definitely not a great community.
I don't even speak Spanish, and I'm always like, yeah, I don't know about the delivery of that.
As you say, incredible, probably what dings him a lot is his last win was 2022, Jared Al-Amelia.
I had totally forgot about that.
That was an impressive run from him.
But today, it kind of
pagachar today was like
throwback pagachar. Remember when he used to attack
and you get caught, he'd have to outsprent guys
that he
almost never used to win solo.
He'd always get away and then out sprint someone
exactly like he did today.
Yeah, super impressive from Moss.
My wife was like, that's not an Eric Moss.
He looks so different than he did
at this year, to tell you this year.
What a recovery from him.
Does it hurt him at all that he's
my or keen? Like when you're kind of, when you're
from an island or not a central part of the country sometimes that can work against you.
Is that in terms of popularity in Spain?
Yeah.
Not really.
I guess in Adols from there, right?
Yeah, and Adoles from there, yeah.
And he's like a national hero.
Not really, not really.
Lives in Hondora also, by the way.
And Rick Mas.
But just because he likes the scenery.
That's the only reason.
And then also Spencer, you know, at the same time,
I think Pugacar today was, I think it's a combination of Enric Muss having a super day,
like growing on that last climb, like getting the motivation,
seeing that you're not, you know, you're riding away from your closest rivals for the podium
and then you're getting closer.
So he kind of rose above himself, I think.
And Rick Muss, because that speed at the end, when he caught Pogaccha, that was impressive.
It was really, really steep.
I think combined that with a not great Pogat chart today.
You know, he was good but not super.
And also maybe probably, you know, the communication.
If you hear that you have 40 seconds and you still have to manage that gap to the finish,
you can say, okay, I'm going to paste myself a bit and then I'm going to do what I always do.
Right.
So, and on top of that, I also saw that that's something I don't really understand because UAE is
extremely well organized.
A Pogacha was without water or any liquids for the last 25 kilometers.
Yeah, that's what he said.
So yeah.
So yeah, I mean, it's surprising that maybe they didn't get, I mean, they couldn't get there anymore.
I don't know. There was a lot of people, a lot of spectators, the gravel.
And then I'm going to guess the cars were not there, no? The cars were not close.
I mean, what do you think of that climb, Spencer, finally?
What do you think of the sterato, the gravel part and the nature of the climb?
I think it was more, it was okay.
It was okay.
Yeah.
You showed me a video yesterday and I was concerned when Pedro Delgado was struggling to write up.
That's a few months.
That's a few months ago.
So they obviously read it the whole.
And actually the guy who was riding with him on that video I sent you, that's Kiko Garcia, ex-teamate of mine.
And also who is now the Vuelta director.
And so he was on a gravel bike.
But Pedro Delgado didn't manage to get up the climb because the gravel was so bad.
But Kiko said in the video, okay, just have in mind, we're going to redo this whole thing.
I thought they paved some of the worst parts of that.
No, they kind of smoothened it out and it was really compacted and it was really fine, fine-pressed stedrato gravel.
Well, if you ask me now, I'm going to say it was an amazing decision because it produced.
I mean, that was an, you got to say that was one of the most exciting stages of any grand tour of the last few years because you didn't know what was going to happen.
You're like, what is what's going on?
Indyramas is bridging up.
If you do watch it closely, though, you know, it's steep.
It's really steep.
Pagotra has a gap.
Then it eases off.
And I would bet Pagachar was managing his effort.
You know, he's like, I got 40 seconds.
I'm just going to get over this climb and I'm going to have to hold these guys off.
I got to save energy.
And that's when Moss made his biggest end roads.
He sprints over the top.
There's a little descent on the climb.
He sprints over the top, really carries a lot of speed down.
And you can see from the helicopter, he's closing the gap.
So like Pagotra's up there kind of cruising along and he doesn't know Moss is back there.
Yeah.
And he really closed the gap.
And then he sprints up the last 100 meters over the top.
So that certainly helped him.
I was surprised, though, I was like an Enric Moss on the descent.
like, ooh, he's going to lose.
He's going to get caught by this chase group.
Very good.
Yeah.
He was really good on that descent.
Yeah.
I mean, he knew the climb.
He knew the climb.
He knew the descent.
I think that Movis star, I mean, anyways, you know, it's De Certo de Las Palma.
So it was two times the same climb, by the way.
The first time they went up.
And then they came from another side and they went higher, right?
Yeah.
A lot of riders know this climb, but also I think that Movisar has had many years.
that they were in the area they're close by for their training camps.
Enric Masch knew the descent.
Pugachar did not know the dissent, which was, you know, obviously because he went off the road.
I mean, but also Spencer, I mean, what to say about that, you know, even in those circumstances, you know, getting off the road,
Pogacar is just so great that, you know, anybody would have crashed.
It was so rough when he went off the road.
He didn't crash.
on his bike. There was a big, there was a big step, you know, it was a big gap from the road till those,
was it stones or, yeah, he just didn't even get completely off the bike. No, he stayed on the
bike and just, I mean, he had, he put foot to the ground, but, but didn't get completely off
his bike. If I went on that same route, I would, my tires would have exploded. I don't know how,
I mean, I don't know how he did that. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. But.
Yeah, Enric Moss, I mean, he, it's just, yeah, it's crazy that on the ascent, he looked incredible and then he looked so poised.
He was trying to warn Pagaccha.
Pagaccha didn't listen to him.
And I can't believe I'm saying this, Johan.
I cannot believe I'm asking this question.
Should he have gifted the win to him?
No.
No.
Well, he kind of couldn't because his team, also his team, and we saw they were killing themselves.
Well, these kind of things, first of all, don't happen anymore, especially if a team has worked the whole stage to put the,
the leader in position to win the stage,
it just doesn't happen.
You know, it doesn't happen.
But anyways, look, we're talking about Pogacchar having, you know,
a bit of a weak moment, but we're six stages in.
He won three stages already.
Yeah, 50% of the stages.
Well, and his GC gap is now 334 to Inric Moss who moves into second.
Primos Roglitz and third at 421.
These are big gaps for six stages in.
Richard Carapest 450, Phyllis, 455.
Sepkus 536,
Oscar Anley 537, Rasmus de Breonna,
and 8th at 540.
So, yeah, the gaps are big.
Do you want to take a quick break
and then we'll talk about the GC implications of this?
Yeah.
Okay, we'll be right back.
Everybody, this Welto-Spania coverage
is brought to you by a presenting sponsor,
Ultra Focus Pouches.
Do you desperately need a nicotine pouch every 15 minutes
just to feel normal?
How many pouches, cups of coffee,
and or energy drinks per day?
do you need to stop yourself from crashing or even feeling nicotine withdrawal?
And a suboptimal thing about using these things is they're going to make you feel anxious.
They're going to make you feel on edge when you have them and when you don't.
That's why focus, ultra pouches are incredible.
First off, they're completely nicotine and caffeine-free.
So you're probably thinking if they don't have nicotine or caffeine, what exactly is in them?
Well, it's a great question.
Because Ultra partnered with the leading neuroscientists to design these pouches,
They use clinically proven neutropics and adaptogens to deliver immediate focus and smooth energy that last one to two hours.
They also have multiple incredible flavors like cool, winter green, tropical watermelon, watermelon, blue raz.
Ultimate is the ultimate guilt-free pouch, delivering instant focus and mental clarity without nicotine or caffeine.
And new customers can use code the move to get 15% off at take ultra.com.
That's take ultra.com with code the move for 15% off.
Make sure you check them out because you don't want to miss this and you don't want to miss that 15% off opportunity.
Okay, Johan, so yeah, as I said, big GC gaps.
Enric Moss, though, obviously the big winner of today, except the winner himself, Tadipagat chart, 334 back.
And then Roglitch is 47 seconds down in third place.
Carapas is over a minute down.
Phyllis Gall, kind of a strange climb.
I don't know if you notice this.
He wasn't there when it started.
Yeah, he took his own tempo and then moved up.
But Spencer, well, first of all, two things.
Two guys who were missing here today and who we expected to be here is Oscar Onley and Seppkus.
You know, they didn't have it on that climb.
They lost considerable time.
A minute, a 30, no, a minute 34.
Well, yeah, which is shocking because Onley was with Carapaz with like a kilometer left
on the climb and then
lost a ton of time.
Yeah. And then I think personally
after six stages we have
we have Bogacha in the lead
and Rickmas in second
Primus Roglidge and third.
I think that's the podium
of the Volta. Interesting.
Interesting. Don't know in which order
but I think these three guys
will be on the podium.
The only thing is did Phyllis call up
the best climb of the day? He was
flying up that climb. It just
he started so far back for reasons unclear to me.
That's the only thing I would worry about if I was Roglitch is
Gaul, I mean, Gaul was cruising up that climb.
And then what happens when he gets...
I think Roglis is going to get better.
I mean, he's getting more and more confidence.
But yeah, I mean, you're right.
Listen, we can't, we can't count out Felix Gaul.
He's a good climber.
You know, he's getting into it.
he had to mean although he made a mistake by being out of position but he did he did have good legs
today that's for sure so let's keep him there but i think those three are going to be the podium
also because because the you know rogledge is going to take considerable time on
on felix gallant the last time trial yes i mean also in interkmas probably on yeah roglish as well
but here's the thing so this shows you why it's important to strike or
while the iron is hot.
You know,
pagachar comes out.
It's the opposite.
Like,
Demi Volnery and I feel like should just be watching
Pagotcha film all the time.
Just punches people in the mouth right from the beginning.
Taking time.
Taking time.
Everyone's like,
oh,
this guy's do greedy.
It's not clear to me that he can drop Enric Moss
the rest of this race on climbs.
Oh, yeah.
Yeah.
I think that's not good ahead of ourselves, Spencer.
I mean,
Inric Moss is climbing incredibly well.
Obviously,
Pagatcher can take time on anyone,
right, if he needs to.
But now he's got a three,
34 gap, not really a concern.
You know, if basically what, if, if this is the case that, that Enric Maas is now going
to be Pugacha's closest rival on the mountain stages, it's very simple.
You know, he just stays with Enric Maas and then just puts little bits of time in him
on the last kilometer.
Because, because Enric Maas is going to ride to distance the other guys.
Yeah.
Right?
So it's ideal for him.
him just stay with Enrique Mas.
Enric Mas is great at riding pace,
the tempo, doesn't accelerate
much, and then just
attack him with 500 meters to go.
Take 10, 15 seconds plus
the bonification. It doesn't
need to, but he's, I mean, it's
still, you know, time and
potential stage wins.
And now, UAE, it's like a big
business that identifies they have
a weakness and a smaller business is doing
it better than them. They've just made a
strategic acquisition. Like now they have
Moves. Movis star is now part of UAE
essentially. They're working for them for the rest of
the race. Yeah. Yeah. So
yeah, it's actually worked out
quite well for Pagatra. The water
thing is a little funny. Like was he
do you think he was supposed to get water from a
teammate and that just didn't materialize?
I don't
why he had a bottle when he
attacked. He had a bottle when he attacked.
I just checked.
Then a kilometer later
the bottle was gone. So I think
I mean, if you throw away that
bottle. That's because you're supposed to get water on that climb from the team, from the team.
Those are things that are planned in the meeting before the race. You know, Pogacar knows that there's
going to be somebody there. Did he miss it? Did the guy not make it to the climb? Was there
too many people? I don't know. I don't know what happened. So I found the thing I was looking for.
So nine K to go, Pagaccha and Moss are 15 seconds in front of DeBrena.
Roglitch and Phyllis Gall.
I thought they were going to get caught.
But Rogel, I mean, it makes sense that Pagachar and Moss put, they're the strongest riders,
obviously, but they were like motorbikes out there.
I mean, I think you're right that no one's, it's not clear to me that anyone behind Moss
is a stronger rider.
Like they put, what, 30 seconds into them in the last 9K, the chasers?
And then on top of that, when Carapas and who else was it, Carapas?
Tejada. Tejada. Tejava. When they came, you know, when there were more people together, they were slowing down.
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. They started attacking each other. You would think, okay, there's new and fresh legs. We know, they were so tired of the chasing.
And then, of course, they're already thinking about the, you know, the stage and trying to be third or fourth.
That is not necessarily always an advantage to have more people in the end of the stage.
It's what happened.
You know, they went from 13 seconds still 46 seconds at the finish.
You're like Oscar Onley, 15K to go.
He's 50 seconds down by himself.
9K to go, he's in a group and they've lost 40 seconds.
Yeah.
You know, that's like the bigger the group swells,
the harder it is to keep the pace up.
Yeah.
No, I not enough nice things I can say about Enric Moss.
And I assume you think Pagachar, is he washed up, Johan?
Like, what's going on here?
Just a little tired?
Not a great climb for.
I don't know, another great day.
It was high.
Yeah.
I think it's a combination of not feeling super.
I mean, surprised by the toughness of the climb.
I don't think so.
You know, they have, I mean, if they haven't previewed it,
they had all the information about the climb exactly how steep it was,
where the gravel part started,
the state of the road, you know, the,
whether it's asphalt or concrete.
So I think he knew all those things.
So I don't know really.
I think for me,
my biggest guess is that he was just managing those 40 seconds
and had no clue that Hendrik Moss was on his way.
I mean,
before anyone also is given his team crap for giving a bad info,
it was very hard to follow what was going on in that climb.
Yeah, it was the cameras were all over the place.
Is this, though, I was a surprised that the gaps on that climb, like that, like those are the gaps we'll see on some of the biggest climbs of this race probably.
Also, did this work out perfectly for Bagachar?
Because Moss comes up to him, works together, and they're flying on the final.
What if he does?
What if no one bridges up to him?
Does he even hold that group off?
Do they reel them in?
Maybe not.
Maybe not because it was headwind in the last nine kilometers.
Yes. Yeah, very windy and flat and open.
Maybe, maybe not. Maybe not. I mean, yeah, the fact that that that, that Musk came back to him was, was definitely a big advantage for Procacar.
And he knew that Moss was going to give it all because he was trying to distance his close rivals for the podium.
Yeah. Yeah, he had a lot to gain by opening that gap. Doesn't ask any questions. It's just pulling hard. I mean, yeah, it's kind of perfect, perfect guy to have up there.
Also for Green Jersey, Wauvinard gets in the breakaway, wins the intermediate sprint.
So he gets 20 points.
Pagachar wins the stage, though, so he gets 20 points.
But now the standings are Pagacha first, 102 points, Woutvinard, 69, Matthew Brennan, 60,
Ethan Hader 57, Christoph, Lipport, 52.
You're already starting to see the answer to our question yesterday of why isn't
Vizma going all in green, Matthew Brenner for green?
Because days like today, Walthenart can just get in the break.
and get the intermediate sprint points better than someone like Matthew Brennan currently.
And then tomorrow is going to be, well, we'll talk about it in the preview.
It's going to be a tough day.
But while it's probably going to have to get in the breakaway and get the intermediate sprint points,
because Pagacra is probably going to keep winning stages for at least the next week,
getting these points.
It's not even clear to me that anyone can challenge them at this point.
It could be tough.
Yeah.
Should we?
Yeah, I think, I think for the moment, he still has.
the three jerseys, no?
So he has the red jersey, the green jersey,
and the mountains jersey.
Yes.
And the only person
remotely close to him in a mountain is
in Rick Moss because he took the points on the final
client today.
Got those 10 points.
But yeah, like no one's
I mean, maybe the third week is different, but
no one's really making big inroads into them
on any of these jerseys.
Spencer, it's clear that
if he wants to win those three jerseys, he is going to win them.
It's only going to happen if he's not interested.
Which I would not, I mean, if you really want to manage your energy during this wealth,
also thinking ahead about what's left in the season, then I would say forget about the points jersey
and forget about the mountains jersey.
The mountain's jersey, okay, it's going to happen automatically, right, because of the hard stages
and the mountain top finishes.
but the points jersey
forget it I mean
it's also automatically
going to happen by the way
it's not like
it's not like he doesn't really need to go after it
but
but yeah and sometimes it could happen
that maybe a stage that he can win
that they decide okay you know what
let's let the break go
we don't need to win this stage
that's the only way that another
person is going to win the points jersey
the only thing about that though
So as this race comes into focus, I'm wondering if we get to the third week,
UAE and Pagotcha says, whatever, we don't care, let the break go.
I think other teams might be pulling the break back.
Because, you know, like you might have such an intense competition for the podium
that the break's getting pulled back.
Bagotar is winning stages and then he's getting green points.
That's probably how he would win if he wins.
I don't think he would have his team do work because, as you say,
he's got, he's got worlds, he's got other stuff to focus on.
again, Spencer, we know, we've said it many times, you know, a lot of things can happen over
three weeks. Look, today, Bogacha could have lost the VELTA by crashing and having to abandon.
Yes.
You know, it's, it's that fragile, you know, so that's also why it's so important to try to be the best of
the rest, because then you're in both position if something happens to the leader.
Yeah, I was going to mention that.
Thanks for bringing it up.
But we saw today how he loses a grand tour eventually, right?
And that's why it's super important to race for second because in a blink of an eye,
like that could have gone differently.
And he's out of the race.
Think about the tour to France.
He's right next to Jonas when Jonas crashes.
Could have been Taday.
So always important to be racing for second, even if you think you're not as strong as Taday
Pagacchar or no, you're not as strong.
But anything else on today's stage, should we take a break and then preview tomorrow stage?
Let's talk about tomorrow.
Yeah.
All right, Johan, so things, it's just a, this is a hard race.
This is a good race.
Well, design race.
Stage 7, 150 kilometers.
We go inland to a ski resort.
We kind of just, as you would imagine from coastal Spain, you just kind of climb up,
stair step up all day.
We have a cat two climb, cat three climb, cat three, sprint point, cat two, finish on a
cat one climb, 10K, 6% up to a ski station, as Phil Liggott would say, pretty high, almost
2,000 meters above sea level.
but the final climb not overly difficult from a gradient perspective, 10K at 6%, but we should say the first K is very mild, 2%.
The last K is flat.
So that is artificially going to make it look easier than it is.
If you just separate kilometers two through eight, it's much harder.
Like the last few K are 8%, 8%, 8%, 7.5% flat kilometer.
How do you think this plays out and who's going to win?
Difficult to predict the winner, but I think tomorrow it's time for a breakaway.
I can't, I mean, it's not going to be a breakaway if decathlon does again what they do today.
Yeah, it depends on what Decahathlon wants to do.
I personally think that UAE will let a breakaway go.
You know, having one three stages already being comfortably in the lead.
maybe having some doubts about
progacha may have some doubts okay yesterday i didn't have a great day i want to
be safe i want to you know see how i feel i don't know i'm just thinking out loud
i would say personally let's let's keep it safe let's just save the whole team as much as
possible follow the other guys on the last climb and if there's a breakaway whatever you know
although i mean it's a hard stage so obviously there's going to be riders in the
breakaway who may be threatening positions of the top 10 starts to be more or less defined now.
If somebody comes in there, then we're going to have a usual scenario where the team of
the fifth or the sixth or the seventh starts to be nervous and starts to pull.
That's always going to happen from now on.
So but I think a breakaway can make it tomorrow.
who will win that's that's different that's a different different story difficult to predict somebody
from the breakaway yeah really difficult it's also a tricky day because you know if you have a
climb like that and it's it is i'm looking at the vel of you're almost a completely flat final k
a little bit of a crapshoot not as straightforward as we just finish on a climb because what if
you don't drop everybody and then now you're in a reduced sprint people are attacking a
feels just a little risky to me to try to target this as a G.C. day of like, I want to win.
Yeah. I mean, maybe if you're Felix Gall, I mean, do you feel confident in your ability to win a reduced sprint at the top of a climb?
No. I wouldn't feel like that. He shouldn't. So I do, I also think it's breakaway. I mean, whoever wins is going to have to be a climber. Are we, I mean, what happens to Rasmus now, DeBrona? Is he too close in the G.C to keep getting
and breakways?
I don't think, I don't think
Lasmus de Breyna will stay in G.C.
You know, he's a really good rider.
Came late to cycling was
a professional speed skater, ice skater,
short track.
Pretty good sport
as a base to become a cyclist.
Yeah.
These skaters do a lot of cycling.
But, you know, he's a good ride.
still discovering himself doesn't have the you know the experience yet of ground
tour so I don't expect him to stay there I saw an interview of him he said you know
that he's just going to take it day by day try to go and breakaways and then make the
best of it so I think if tomorrow he goes in the break they're not going to let
him go he needs to lose more time he's too close now what about he's a
He's three seconds behind the white jersey, I think, behind Oscar only.
He's still in contention for the white jersey.
Crazy.
Crazy.
He'll lose time yet.
We all should say Yarno Wydar, yeah.
Had a bad day.
Not a great day.
He said he was suffering a lot from the heat.
Well, which also does tell us, you know, if he's suffering that bad, probably nobody
felt that good.
And that would explain maybe if Pagachar didn't ride away.
from everyone how you thought he would.
Correct me if I'm wrong.
Is Enric Moss really good in the heat?
Yes.
He is.
Yes.
He said that.
Straight away, he said, yeah, I told you guys that I'm good in the heat.
So today's the proof.
He was quite upbeat about his performance.
And he should be.
Yeah.
I mean, remember this stage in Granado where he was crushing everyone on the climb and then
it was this wide open descent and he got caught.
But he was a very good hot climber.
He's like a specialist.
What about Mulberger in the breakaway?
That's a good one.
Yeah.
Very good climber.
He's 12th overall.
He's kind of like out just right outside of the top 10.
But then I think if the breakaway is good, if it's going to survive,
it's going to have to have guys from Decahathlon, net company, Enios, maybe even UAE.
I mean, is this a J. Vine stage?
J. Vine.
J. Vine.
J. Vine stage, maybe.
Yeah.
Jay Vine.
Pablo Torres.
Those guys could be.
could be in the breakaway.
I mean, if I'm UAE, I'm trying to get one of those guys in there,
then you're okay for the rest of the day.
Yeah, I guess the only thing you have to balance is,
let's say you send Mulberger up the road,
does that leave Gaul without help on the climb?
But I guess you, Decafalon's so deep,
they would have Mulberger, they also have...
Bizzio, Ricotelo.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Interesting.
Yeah.
I actually, I don't think the odds are out yet.
I would probably just pick J. Vine.
I don't think I would over-complicate this.
Jay Vine is, yeah, looks good.
Jay Vine, Mulberger.
I think those are probably the two favorites.
If it's not G.C.
If it's G.C., do you see anyone beating Pagachar?
No.
Or no.
If it's G.C., no.
No.
I don't look so.
Unless he, unless he,
unless he doesn't feel great and just controls.
And then it's a sprint at the end.
Sprint, he can still win.
Who would beat him in a sprint?
Let's say he didn't win.
What G.C. guy would beat him in a sprint?
Roglidge.
Roglidge?
But Roglidge doesn't seem to sprint.
Roglige doesn't seem to sprint very good these days.
I mean, yesterday, for example,
no, not yesterday, the stage in Andorra.
He spent a lot, so he had nothing left to sprint.
And today the same.
He also spent a lot in that pursuit and also had nothing left to sprint.
Well, yeah, yeah.
I don't know if that's, he can't, what is it, chicken or egg?
Can he not sprint or is it just too tired to sprint?
Like the Homer Simpson, I'm not hungover.
I'm just tired from staying up all night drinking where he probably could sprint.
He's just too gassed, two sprint.
Yeah, I don't think.
Yeah, I think, I think it's amazing that he's in third position right now.
After, you know, already a few really hard stages, I'm impressed.
I did not expect Rogledge to be in that kind of shape so early in the Vuelta.
Yeah, especially with getting hit by a car.
Yeah.
Poor, poor form all year, poor training leading into this.
And then now he's in third overall, not crazy to think he ends up second.
Like, if you really just, you know, go final week.
Enric Moss versus Primos Rogglich, who you pick in.
Right now, Moss looks amazing, but I wouldn't want to be trying to hold off Primus Rogledge.
Yeah, although I think Enric Moss is also a writer who functions really a lot with the motivation and the morale.
I mean, his morale must be through the roof right now.
I mean, who has ever been able to do this against the Pogacar on the top of his game?
It's only Jonas.
He's done this.
And then
maybe Jonas
Enric Moss himself.
Yeah.
And then
Mateus Schelmoza, right?
When he beat
in
Bagacher and Amstall Gold.
In Amsterdam gold,
yeah,
but that's not the same.
That was a week after.
And also,
I don't think we can compare,
we can't compare
Pulacchar of 2022
with the Pogaccha of
2025 and
2006.
True.
This also
continues to support
our thesis
that the tour de France is this year's
two to France not good preparation
for the Volta Spagna.
I mean, nobody that did that tour
like even Pagacha looks a little off his best.
You know, he's still winning, but...
Yeah, yeah, I don't think we can judge him
from today's performance.
I think I think Pugacha's an amazing shape.
I mean, I mean, he's in probably technically
the best shape, right? Because he's one half the
stages, hard to argue.
Otherwise, two riders have won stage.
at this race, by the way.
Tadipa Gatria and Matthew Bennett are the only stage winners at this race.
Isn't that crazy?
How's that?
We have six stages.
I don't know.
The other one was canceled.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Yeah, it's only two riders of one.
Yeah, wow.
Okay.
It's crazy.
It's crazy.
Yeah, I think that's all we had, right?
Yeah, I think so.
Let's see what tomorrow brings.
Hard stage, 150,000, 6,600 meters of climbing.
Really hard.
In theory, it should be a bit cooler, not extremely hot, but still, it's a hard stage tomorrow.
We should also say I was just thinking about sports betting, trying to predict, etc., etc.
If you had to stand in a room yesterday and defend your thesis that Enric Moss will win the stage or get second,
what would you even have said?
You know, it's like, no, no, he's going to reel in Pagachar at the top and he's going to descend better than him.
He would have sounded like an insane person.
Yeah.
That just shows you it's hard to predict some of these outcomes and weird stuff happens in races.
So just something to keep in mind if you're putting a lot of money on the line.
But thanks, Johan.
And we'll be back to break down tomorrow stage seven, probably another interesting day.
Kudos to the Volta.
A lot of interesting days they have back to back to back.
