Vuelta a España: Pogacar solos to third stage win on Plataforma de Gredos

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Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) added another chapter to his extraordinary Grand Tour debut with a spectacular third stage victory on the penultimate day of the 2019 Vuelta a España, as his fellow Slovenian Primoz Roglic (Jumbo-Visma) wrapped up the overall title ahead of the final ride into Madrid on Sunday.

Not only did Pogacar win the stage, his long-range solo attack also netted him a spot on the final podium, as he leapfrogged both Miguel Angel López (Astana) and Nairo Quintana (Movistar) to move from fifth to third overall.

The 20-year-old, refusing to settle for the success he’d already enjoyed at this Vuelta, threw caution to the wind and his legs, in their first taste of a 20th consecutive day of racing, responded. He launched his attack on the first-category Puerto de Peña Negra, the fifth of six categorised climbs on the 190km route through the Sierra de Gredos, with just under 40km remaining, and held off a red jersey group in which Movistar and Astana both had numbers.

After opening a gap of 1:40 by the top of the Peña Negra, he maintained his advantage down the 20-kilometre descent, up the false flat on the approach to the final climb, and up the final climb itself, a third-category ascent to the Plataforma de Gredos that measured 9.4km at an average gradient of 3.8 per cent.

Alejandro Valverde finished second on the stage, 1:32 in arrears, in a group with Rafal Majka (Bora-Hansgrohe), Hermann Pernsteiner (Bahrain-Merida), and Roglic, who dropped back in the final metres to soak up his first Grand Tour victory, which will be set in stone in Madrid on Sunday evening.

Roglic had come under early pressure from a volley of Astana attacks on the opening climbs, with López later launching on the Peña Negra. However, Pogacar’s solo move effectively turned the tables and forced what should have been his aggressors – Astana and Movistar – into defensive mode as they sought to salvage their podium places. As such, Roglic, despite being shorn of teammates on the Peña Negra, was able to sit in and quietly ride to the title.

Valverde, whose teammates Marc Soler and Antonio Pedrero had done the bulk of the heavy lifting from the top of the Pena Negra, took it up on the upper slopes of the Plataforma de Gredos to protect his second place overall. His final gap to Roglic now stands at 2:33, though the proximity of Pogacar in third, just 22 seconds behind, shows the pressure he himself had come under.

Quintana fell away as Valverde moved clear with Roglic and Majka towards the top and so fell off the podium once again after leaping back onto it in the crosswinds on Wednesday. There was more disappointment for his fellow Colombian, López, who finished in 11th place more than two minutes down, after his Astana team had come out all guns blazing. Not only did Pogacar bump him down to fifth overall, he also snatched the white jersey off his shoulders.

“It’s really incredible. I don’t think I was ever imagining this. I think I will need a few days to understand what I did,” Pogacar said.

“It was definitely patience. My legs were good but my mentality was not super good in the first part of the stage. But then I saw everybody was uncomfortable in the cold and rain. I felt good on the last long climb. I attacked because I saw Lopez did quite a big effort attacking. I chose the right moment and went full gas to the finish.”

How it unfolded

Roglic allowed himself a smile as he prepared to take to the podium. It all worked out rather nicely in the end, but it didn't start out so comfortably. Astana came out all guns blazing on the opening climb of the day, the first-category Puerto de Pedro Bernardo (18.4km at 4.4 per cent). Lopez's men launched a volley of accelerations, using almost all their riders, causing groups to come and go during a period of non-stop movement in the main bunch. Movistar were also getting involved, and Jumbo used George Bennett and Robert Gesink to try and keep a lid on things, though they were having to react to fresh moves all the time.

It was on the lower slopes of the climb that the breakaway formed, containing: Mark Padun (Bahrain-Merida), Mitch Docker (EF Education First), Steve Morabito (Groupama-FDJ), Tosh Van der Sande (Lotto Soudal), Damien Howson (Mitchelton-Scott), Nic Dlamini (Dimension Data), Sergio Henao (UAE Team Emirates), Mikel Iturria, Sergio Samitier (Euskadi-Murias). Ruben Guerreiro (Katusha Alpecin) and Nicolas Edet (Cofidis) bridged across on the climb to make it 11 out front.

By the top of the Pedro Bernardo, the gap to the break – from which Dlamini, Van der Sande, and Iturria had been dropped - had come down to just 1:30. Samitier took maximum KOM points, and would go on to add to his tally, but the polka-dot jersey Geoffrey Bouchard (AG2R La Mondiale) was at that point mathematically assured of the overall mountains classification victory.

A very brief descent led into the second climb of the day, the shorter but steeper second-category Puerto de Serranillos (9km at 4.8 per cent). Docker was dropped from the break but was effectively replaced by a teammate as Lawson Craddock attacked and set about bridging across. The hostilities in the main bunch continued on the lower slopes of the Serranillos, with Bennett having to drag back a dangerous Astana move led by Dario Cataldo, but things settled down slightly towards the top. Samitier took maximum points again at the top, with the break followed by Craddock at 30 seconds and the peloton at one minute.

A longer 20km descent followed, and the pace continued to be piled on, with the peloton splitting on numerous occasions. There was a plateau in the middle of the descent and that was where Craddock finally made it to the front, and where Madrazo, Pierre Latour (AG2R), Fran Ventoso (CCC), and Nikias Arndt (Sunweb) formed a brief counter-attack. They were brought back before they flew down the bottom section, the peloton splitting in two by the foot of the third climb of the day, by which point the gap to the break stood at just 30 seconds.

Jumbo-Visma get a grip

The second-category Alto de Navatalgordo (4km at 7.2 per cent) came after 65km, and while there was a further selection in the break, order was restored in the peloton. Up front, Morabito, Henao, Craddock, and Padun quickly lost contact, leaving just Howson, Samitier, Edet, and Guerreiro out front. 45 seconds down the road, Jumbo-Visma came to the front and started to exert some control over proceedings for the first time. Samitier led the four leaders over the top while the bunch followed at 1:30, led by a Jumbo-Visma train that now included all their six riders. It was business as usual.

With around 50km, on largely uphill roads, to the next climb, Tao Geoghegan Hart (Ineos) threatened to upset the peace by attacking solo and bridging across to the break in no time. No one was tempted to follow, and Jumbo-Visma set about tapping out a much lighter rhythm, allowing the now-five-rider break to start building a proper advantage for the first time.

By the third-category Puerto de Chia (3km at 4 per cent), with 75km remaining, the break led by 4:10, but that soon started to fall on the climb. Astana had grown tired of Jumbo-Visma's pace-setting and set about throwing the race leader's team off balance once again. They upped the pace significantly, thinning the bunch to around 40 riders and knocking around 40 seconds off the gap to the break by the summit.

A long 20km descent led to the foot of the Pena Negra, and Astana continued their charge, leading the whole way down and on the flatter approach roads, where more splits occurred at the back of the bunch, leaving Gesink scrambling off the back. Kuss and Bennett were the only riders left with Roglic by that point, so Astana had knocked three out of the picture. Movistar still had six, and Astana five in the front group of 30.

Punta Negra

With the final climb only rated third-category, the Puerto de Pena Negra, topping out with 34km to go, was the focal point of the stage and a point where Roglic's rivals had to attack.

Again, Astana took it on. Gorka Izaguirre led the way on the lower slopes before Jakob Fuglsang came through and shredded the bunch with a huge turn of pace. Kuss was dropped, leaving Bennett with one teammate, and it wasn't long before Lopez finally made his move. The Colombian accelerated fiercely, but the move was short-lived as Roglic, Valverde, Quintana, and Pogacar were all quickly on the case. Those five moved clear, as they have so often in this Vuelta, but then eased up allowing Majka and others back in. Roglic was alone now, and Fuglsang came back to the front for a couple of minutes before Lopez went again. It wasn't as fierce an attack – more an acceleration as Fuglsang peeled off. Again, the strongest five moved clear, but it wouldn't last.

It wasn't long before Pogacar set off, around 5km from the summit. In contrast to Lopez, he was quickly and cleanly away, catching and passing Geoghegan Hart and Guerreiro – the last men standing in the break – in the blink of an eye.

There was confusion behind, with Felix Grosschartner taking it up for Majka before Valverde put in a mock attack and waved his arm in remonstration. Towards the top of the climb, with the gap to Pogacar already above one minute and rising, Movistar blinked and started to take control. Hopes of attacking Roglic had turned into a need to chase Pogacar and defend their own positions.

Pogacar crested the Pena Negra alone with a lead of 1:40, and set off down the 20km descent. It wasn't steep, and he had to pedal – sometimes in aero tuck – pretty much all the way down, which made his feat all-the-more remarkable. Movistar were leading the 21-rider red jersey group down, with Soler and Pedrero in front of Valverde and Quintana.

Pogacar's lead was intact as the road flattened out and he managed to hold on as the road tilted uphill for 5km. Soler and Pedrero were working but making no inroads. The road then dipped down for 5km to the base of the final climb, and hesitation crept into the chase when Pedrero momentarily peeled off, leaving Quintana and Lopez on the front. Pogacar's lead went up and he added three bonus seconds at the intermediate sprint.

The final climb

Pedrero was soon back on the front and led the red jersey group onto the final climb, but he had little left to give as his face betrayed his suffering. The gap to Pogacar wasn't coming down, and so Fuglsang moved to the front for Astana, raising the pace significantly. He shaved off 10 seconds but soon peeled away, causing another lull. Soler managed a brief turn before Lopez accelerated and found himself asking Quintana to come through, with his compatriot obliging.

As the impetus ebbed, Pernsteiner and Majka both attacked half-way up, drawing out Valverde, Quintana, and Roglic in a chase group as Lopez started to lose ground. Pogacar reached a brief downhill section in the middle of the climb with a lead of still 1:37. On the upper slopes, Pernsteiner went again and was joined by Valverde, who had Roglic glued to his wheel, and Majka. Quintana was there initially but fell away back towards Lopez.

Into the final kilometre and the victory was in the bag for Pogacar, along with a spot on the podium. Valverde had to fight to guard his own second place but finished strongly to do so, while Roglic cruised in behind to seal a first Grand Tour victory.

"Today was the last super hard day. We all crashed hard yesterday, so it wasn't the best of the best, but still, with the team we were sharp from the start, and I was able to finish it off. It's a really nice day again for Slovenian cycling."

Stage Results

Overall Standings