Pogacar: I want to be on Vuelta a España podium next to Roglic

(Image credit: Bettini Photo)

Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) arrived on this Vuelta a España, he said, with no obligations. A little over a week from Madrid, there also appear to be few limits on what the 20-year-old can achieve, save for those imposed by the race leader, his compatriot Primož Roglič (Jumbo-Visma).

On stage 13 on Friday, the Slovenian duo surged clear of the group of favourites with 3km remaining of the final haul up Los Machucos, an ascent whose gradients are so severe that a rider does not attack so much as endeavour to climb less slowly than his rivals.

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Barry Ryan
Head of Features

Barry Ryan is Head of Features at Cyclingnews. He has covered professional cycling since 2010, reporting from the Tour de France, Giro d’Italia and events from Argentina to Japan. His writing has appeared in The Independent, Procycling and Cycling Plus. He is the author of The Ascent: Sean Kelly, Stephen Roche and the Rise of Irish Cycling’s Golden Generation, published by Gill Books.