As it happened: The red jersey wins again on Vuelta a España gravel but it wasn't pure domination this time

Hello and welcome to our live coverage of stage 6 of the Vuelta a España.

Follow along all day for live updates and commentary on the race.

Neutral roll out at 13:11 CEST

The stage will start in about 15 minutes.

Not just gravel, but a gravel climb

Today should be a really exciting stage in Spain, because not only is the Vuelta embracing gravel for the first time (something the other Grand Tours have experimented with already) but they're going in hard with a gravel climb, the Puerto El Bartolo.

9.4km long with a punishing average gradient of 7%, this would be a hard climb in normal circumstance, but it's made even trickier by the fact that the final kilometres are unpaved gravel.

And? It tops out with 20km to go on today's stage... fireworks incoming. Here's a closer look at the climb:

Want a closer look at the stage today?

Our preview has all the details of the route, plus Alasdair Fotheringham, who is on the ground for us, has been gathering intel from the peloton.

Vuelta a España 2026 stage 6 preview: 'It'll all depend on Tadej' – After years of waiting, gravel is finally on the menu in Spain

A scenic start this morning in Alcossebre on the coast.

Neutral roll-out

And they're off!

A little earlier than planned but the peloton have just rolled out for the neutral.

Not the most successful start line selfie I've ever seen. Where is everyone else?

Official start

Off we go – 177.5km and four categorised climbs to come.

Don't forget to vote in the poll above to tell us who you think is going to win, or better yet, tell us your thoughts in the comments.

Here's a reminder of what is on the cards today:

The first attacks are starting. It's a big day to be in the breakaway, so I wouldn't be surprised if we see a pretty fierce – and drawn-out – battle for the break.

Gravel in Grand Tours, yay or nay?

The inclusion of gravel in Grand Tours is becoming more and more common, but there's still a bit of debate about whether it's a good thing or not.

On the one hand, it adds to the excitement and to the 'all-rounder' qualities that a GT winner needs, but on the other hand, a lot of people think it's frustrating that a race could be lost because of a puncture or crash on gravel.

Our gravel expert Jackie Tyson spoke to Michael Woods about today's stage: 'From a spectator's perspective, it's awesome' - Michael Woods says gravel section on stage 6 of 2026 Vuelta a España is 'ambush territory'

But what do you think?

Just over 10km done. The attacks are flowing but nothing has quite stuck yet.

Attacks all over the road so far.

Sounds like Alexey Lutsenko (NSN) might have a bit of a gap on the peloton. He won't want to be out there alone, though, and the attacks are continuing behind.

Léo Bisiaux (Decathlon CMA CGM) is with Lutsenko, but the gap is still small.

About 20km done, Lutsenko and Bisiaux are in the lead but there's a group chasing behind them, and the gap is still only really small – 15 seconds from the leaders to the peloton with the chasers in between.

Lutsenko and Bisiaux are slightly building their lead, but it's still not enough to be day done, and we're only 25km in...

If you're looking for something to read whilst you wait for the live coverage to start, may I recommend this in-depth feature about Team Amani, and their bold – but realistic – plans to make it to the Tour de France Femmes in 2028.

Climb: Puerto de la Serratella (14.1km at 4%)

The bunch are now on the first categorised climb of the day. It's the longest at 14.1km, but the average gradient is only 4%, so relatively tame compared to what's to come this afternoon.

Walter Calzoni (Pinarello-Q36.5) has just joined the leaders to make it three in front, but they're leading by less than 15 seconds halfway up the climb.

Attackers caught.

The battle for the break will continue on this climb...

Fairly usual suspects in terms of what teams are controlling at the front of the peloton: UAE, Decathlon, Red Bull.

Pinarello-Q36.5 seem particularly keen to get in the break today, they've had a few riders on the attack already.

140km to go

Nearly 40km done and we're still breakless.

Will it go before the top of this climb? Sounds like a bigger group has just clipped off the front, and they'll be hoping that size works in their favour...

Biggest fight for the break yet

Now, I've been on holiday until today, but the official Vuelta channel reliably tells me that "this is the most intense battle for the break so far" at this year's race.

It certainly has been a long one, with an average speed of just over 41kph for the first hour.

Beautiful landscapes in Valencia.

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We've crested the top of the climb and still no break.

Will share the KOM results when we get them.

Tadej Pogačar has been staying hidden in the bunch so far...

Could he be hoping to give this stage to the break, or is he just biding is time? According to our poll, most of you think he's going to win today!

KOM results from Puerto de la Serratella:

1st: Santiago Buitrago (Bahrain Victorious) – 5 points
2nd: Lorenzo Fortunato (XDS Astana) – 3 points
3rd: Stefan Küng (Groupama-FDJ United) – 1 point

120km to go

Unfortunately, Josh Tarling (Netcompany Ineos) has abandoned the Vuelta a España. We will update with more information once there is communication from the team.

With still no breakaway and approaching the foot of the next climb, more attacks are being launched in anticipation of the Coll de la Bandereta (4.6km at 6.7%).

Climb: Coll de la Bandereta (4.6km at 6.7%)

There's a new move forming towards the front of the race with more than 15 riders getting ahead of the peloton. The gaps are still so tight for the moment, with the attacking far from over.

As I typed, that latest group has also been pulled back. It's been brutal right from the start and the longer this fight for the breakaway goes, the more likely it becomes that UAE will start pacing for Pogačar with a third stage win on offer...

110km to go

The riders are over the top of that climb, with the next wave of attacks being launched. It's George Bennett (NSN), Gijs Leemreize (Picnic PostNL), Andreas Kron (Uno-X Mobility), and Santiago Buitrago (Bahrain Victorious) who are 14 seconds up the road, but ominously, UAE Team Emirates-XRG have come to the front to pace.

Buitrago, Bennett, Kron and Leemreize are leading, with a fairly big chasing group – that includes Wout van Aert – within 20 seconds as we head into the final 100km.

Out the back, Mads Pedersen has been distanced.

And the chasers have just caught the four leaders, so that should be 16 in the lead now.

Behind, there's a bit of disagreement in the bunch over whether they're happy to let this go or not. So they're only around 45 seconds ahead of the peloton.

If the teams in the bunch say 'OK, let it go' then this will be our move of the day (finally) but if even one team keeps pushing on, this could continue...

It's Decathlon CMA CGM who are really still pushing it behind. They don't have a rider in the break so they're not happy.

Gosh now even Pogačar is getting involved behind. UAE would obviously rather that a Decathlon-free break got away.

95km to go

Ah the reason Pogačar is getting in the mix is also because Oscar Onley is following moves off the front of the peloton. GC action happening already...

Anyone hoping for a straightforward breakaway day, you can forget about that!

The 16 leaders nearly have a minute's lead now, with UAE on the front of the peloton. I think they're trying to let the group go and shut down any more chasing, rather than chase themselves... Let's see.

If this gap can go out over a minute and a half that would be good for the break. Seems to be settling down.

Van Aert is setting the pace on the front of the break to pull out the gap towards a minute and a half.

Crash

A few riders have just come off at the back of the peloton, mainly Tudor riders, three of them hit the deck. Including birthday boy Marco Brenner :(

Here's the latest from the road.

The break are hammering it down the descent now.

The next 30 minutes or so are going to be really key when it comes to whether this break can survive or not. They need to build up a solid gap and quickly if they want to survive – anything less than two or three minutes will be way too easy for the GC riders to catch.

The gap is 1:50 right now.

70km to go

UAE riding pretty hard on the front of the bunch. Maybe they do want this to be a GC (read: Pogačar) day.

The gap seems to be levelling out at about two minutes. I would say that isn't going to be enough for this break to survive to the line, but they don't have much road to try and increase this.

We're less than 10km from the next sprint, and then it's straight into the Alto del Desierto de las Palmas, which is 7.5km long with an average gradient of 5.1%.

Sprint: Benicàssim

Expectedly, Van Aert wins the sprint.

Van Aert got a little gap going for that sprint, but he's waiting for the rest of the break now.

Climb: Alto del Desierto de las Palmas (7.5km at 5.1%)

Starting the climb now, and the gap is sitting at 2:25, with UAE and Decathlon both pacing in the bunch.

The climbers are making this hard in the break, so Van Aert is among a handful of riders getting dropped as the climbers push on in front.

50km to go

The climbers getting rid of the 'weaker' riders has absolutely helped the break's chances. They've pulled the gap out and I think UAE have perhaps knocked their pace off a little bit.

With the gap at 2:45ish, UAE will have to think about whether they throw a lot of effort into chasing this one down, or if they save their legs on this occasion.

José Manuel Díaz is giving it a go on his own off the front of the break... not sure that's really a good tactic for the Burgos Burpellet BH rider but let's see. I guess he needs to get his jersey on TV.

Díaz won the KOM but was then caught, so we have 10 riders in the lead right now, but the gap is coming down again. 2:15 now.

40km to go

Five riders have made it back to the front on the descent, so we have 15 riders in the lead – check the widget above for the full list of names.

Their gap is 2:25 for the moment, with the Puerto El Bartolo fast approaching. Here's a reminder of what's to come:

8km until the climb starts.

Kron and Bilbao are having a go off the front of the break. The escapees know their chances of survival are fairly slim right now.

UAE are hammering this even on the flat. Pretty confident to say that Pogačar wants to win a third stage today...

The gap is well over two minutes now. Do they want to bring this back before the gravel section? I guess there is added glory in Pogačar making his winning move on that steep, unpaved sector.

Almeida peels off after a pretty mammoth effort on the front for UAE.

He's had a rubbish season, and even though he isn't here racing for his own ambitions as he was last year, he's proving he does still have a lot of worth and strength even if it's as a domestique. A little bit of redemption.

30km to go

The gap falls below 1:30.

Andreas Kron is determined to keep trying and keep going as far as a he can, but I think the break's chances are well over now.

The break has split up as this climb ramps up. Only a few riders left in the lead.

Behind, it's Jay Vine who is now doing the job of smashing the pace for UAE in the bunch. Pogačar is third wheel.

Ooof Jarno Widar is struggling at the back of the bunch. The young rider has had a strong debut so far but he's finding this climb tough.

Vine has pulled off so it's just Pablo Torres in front of Pogačar now.

Most of his GC rivals are now alone in the group, thanks to UAE's pace-setting.

4.5km of the climb left.

GRAVEL KLAXON!

Turning onto the road that takes us to the gravel and 20% gradients now!

Pogačar accelerates.

Not full throttle just yet I don't think...

Gall is not with him, Onley is.

Pogačar has Onley, Roglič and Carapaz on his wheel.

Up front, Ramses Debruyne leads the way towards the gravel.

And Pogačar pushes out a gap. Onley cannot hold on as the Slovenian sweeps up more and more breakaway riders.

Onto the gravel!

It's dusty and atmospheric. Debruyne still ahead but Pogačar is charging on.

Pogačar catches Debruyne – he's in the lead with 2.9km still left to climb.

Apologies for the lack of race photos, by the way. Our provider is having some technical difficulties.

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Gall was nowhere to be seen when Pogačar was attacking, but he's recovering and is with Carapaz and Onley behind. But they're already 30 seconds down on Pogačar.

Literally a few seconds after I said the gap was 30 seconds, it's now a minute. Pogačar is steamrolling this gravel section.

Roglič and Gall are leading the chase, ahead of Onley, with Carapaz fifth on the road and not looking super comfortable on the gravel.

I need to correct myself – Mas was between Roglič and Pogačar, and he's nearly catching the leader!

The Spanish rider has put in a huge effort here.

Mas catches Pogačar! And goes over the top first! Wow.

Sorry for the confusion there... gravel always brings chaos I suppose!

Pogačar and Mas only went over the top with 35 seconds on Roglič and co, too. Maybe Pogačar didn't smash the top part of that climb quite as much as we thought.

Pogačar goes off the road on the descent!

He didn't crash but came to a full stop after just misjudging a corner. He's straight back on Mas' wheel though.

Mas might be dreaming of a stage win, but if this pair can stay ahead, he also has GC placings to gain – he could move up to second.

Roglič, Gall and Debruyne are 23 seconds behind the leaders. Pogačar seems to have taken his foot off the gas ever so slightly on this descent, just calming down after that wobble.

This could all come back together.

How often do we see this? Pogačar going on the attack and then being caught? Very rarely.

10km to go

Roglič and co are within 15 seconds of Pogačar.

The red jersey hinted before that he might not quite be at his most dominant level, and this is proving that. Obviously there's still a long way to go for the GC to open up, but this will give his rivals plenty of confidence.

Pogačar and Mas are on the flat now and they're working well together.

Oscar Onley is the big loser today. He's in a group 1:30 down on Pogačar, with the likes of Kuss and Skjelmose.

Not super surprising, as gravel and steep gradients aren't really his thing.

5km to go

Mas and Pogačar have extended their lead on the flat, so it's going to be a sprint between them for the win.

I think we can all take a good guess at which rider will win that, but let's see.

The Roglič group has really faded, as the gap has gone back out above 30 seconds.

Mas stands to leapfrog Roglič into second on GC.

Heading into the last 2km. Mas and Pogačar and rolling through and taking turns on the front.

Final kilometre

Sprint incoming....

Third is up for grabs from the chase group behind.

Pogačar leads under the flamme rouge. Can Mas win this with tactics?

Mas is letting Pogačar lead it out...

Pogačar wins!

But there's no coming round Pogačar.

Three wins in six days for the Slovenian, and a few seconds added to his GC lead, but what a huge result for Mas too. Maybe Pogačar is stoppable (right now).

Debruyne grabs third from the chase, taking four bonus seconds and he'll climb right up the GC after his day in the breakaway.

Results

Stage win number three for Pogačar.

GC standings

Mas moves up to second, whilst Kuss and Onley have both lost two spots on GC. Debruyne climbs up from 12th to 8th.

On Mas...

Interesting comment from user Cindertrack:

On one hand, we are perhaps witnessing a generational talent succeed, or perhaps we're seeing something else all together. Either way, it's becoming formulaic and at what point do people lose interest?

The result was what we expected perhaps, but the way it panned out today was pretty wild. Does that make it more exciting or is it only the final result that matters?

Debruyne has rocketed up the GC standings, but he also nearly stole the white jersey away from Oscar Onley.

Onley holds him off by just three seconds.

That really was a stunning stage.

Gravel in the Vuelta gets a yes from me!

If you need to catch up on the full stage, here is our full report and results: