Stage 7 of the Vuelta a España was business as usual in some ways for Tadej Pogačar as the UAE Team Emirates-XRG leader once again gained time on his GC rivals, but it was a far more muted display than on other occasions.
Riding in the group of favourites, Pogačar reacted to a marked acceleration in pace by Decathlon CMA CGM halfway up the final ascent of Aramón Valdelinares, culminating in an attack with their contender Felix Gall.
The Slovenian star came through when Gall invited him to collaborate, he told reporters later, and he then accelerated a little more to go clear alone. By the finish, his advantage on Gall was six seconds, with Enric Mas (Movistar), second overall, a further 16 seconds behind and the remainder of the GC rivals at 30 seconds and counting.
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Not a major gain, then, compared to Pogačar's dominating display at Andorra, where he took nearly three minutes on his chasers, or even the time he gained during his stage 6 breakaway move with Mas, which netted him just over 40 seconds.
With the breakaway finally staying away and Uno-X Mobility's Andrea Leknessund winning, there was no stage victory to celebrate either. The gains were so slender, it led to some speculation by Mas at the line that Pogačar had been angry at some point during the race and rather than wanting to gain time, he wanted to prove a point.
The Vuelta leader denied that this was the case, explaining that his time gain had come about by a series of circumstances rather than a major plan like in Andorra or Castellò. "It was quite normal, straightforward," Pogačar said.
"I wasn't angry at all. I would love to ride with a teammate's pace to the top of the climb, but Decathlon decided to race, and they went hard," Pogačar explained.
"I followed Felix and saw some gaps were growing within the GC guys. Felix flicked his elbow for me to pass, then I contributed, and I opened the gap and then continued to the finish. It was all quite normal, straightforward."
Overall, Pogačar's GC margin has stretched to 3:50 on second-placed Mas, with Primož Roglič (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) now an even more distant 4:50. Although he lost the points jersey to Wout van Aert (Visma-Lease Bike) after the Belgian made it into a breakaway, he reacted a little sharply when asked if the points ranking was 'still a target'.
"It was never a target so the word 'still' is off the table," he said. "The red jersey is the main goal, and that's all."
Talking on Eurosport, Pogačar said that he would have loved to go for his fourth stage win in seven days, but the upcoming climbing challenges, in particular Sunday's lengthy trek through the mountains of southern Valencia to the summit of Aitana, made it better to ease back a little.
He explained that it was "better to save the team, and have a bit less crazy day than yesterday [stage 6] because stage 9 will be one of the toughest stages of the Vuelta."
Opting to take a more conservative approach once a big enough lead has been established is a textbook strategy for any Grand Tour leader, and Pogačar's advantage of nearly four minutes on Mas is certainly a race-winning one. But it remains an unusual strategy for a rider normally as aggressive as Pogačar to take.
On Sunday's ascent of Aitana, we could yet see him revert to type and go for another knockout stage win. Only one thing remains beyond any doubt: he's still the strongest rider in the 2026 Vuelta, and his lead is only getting bigger with each mountain stage that passes.
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