But humanizes Pogacar in the Vuelta a España

One, two, three, four, five… And who would be ahead. At the midpoint of Puerto El Bartolo, Tadej Pogacar decided to start without looking in the rearview mirror, without finding a rival, unleashed, overwhelming, scorching. The Slovenian started the engine and, one by one, overtook his rivals with astonishing ease, cyclists wide-eyed and fans excited, many gathered in the two kilometers of sterrato, flattened earth, although a wall ahead, kilometers that burned the little lactic acid they had left. How beautiful cycling is! It seemed, in any case, like a story already told, one with a permanent spoiler, the one that explains that Pogacar raises his arms and minutes later the rest arrive. But, for once, it was not entirely like that; Enric Mas has returned, capable of rubbing shoulders with the god of cycling, even capable of humanizing him.

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At dawn, the Alcossebre Promenade was a true haven of peace. Some early risers were paddle surfing, seagulls circled looking for exposed prey because the sea was barely choppy, and shops were raising their shutters while serving the first coffees of the day. Charming morning walks, blessed holidays. However, peace quickly turned into chaos. It all started with the honking of the cars sponsoring the race, a warning that the Vuelta caravan was about to arrive. Then the team buses appeared and suddenly there was no room to move, a throng of fans giving themselves over to their favorite cyclists. Like Carapaz, thunderous applause, pure magnetism; like Pogacar, always the best, the center of attention; like Marco Brenner (Tudor), who is not especially well known, but everyone started singing happy birthday to him; like Sepp Kuss, kindness in person, a smile as a greeting; and like Landa and his Landismo, cheered like no other. But Mads Pedersen, the bullet of the peloton, also did his numbers to be loved, going around with a water gun joking with anyone in his path, even with a policeman to whom he offered a trade with a real one. Happy chaos and commotion that extended into the peloton, always dictated by Pogacar. Although, for once, the full stop, the rebellious script, was Mas.

Lutsenko (NSN) and Bisiaux (Decathlon) wanted to go solo from the start, a ragged breakaway when the first slopes of the La Serratella climb arrived. More tried to follow the wheel, wild attacks swallowed by the peloton, until, after an hour, 14 brave riders managed to put some distance. Among them, Van Aert, a rider who knows no grays, a train and chassis of a prodigy, pure power pedaling, contender for any Iliad, Achilles’ wrath. But in this case, they cut his hair like Samson or, simply, he cut it himself because when he won his points in the intermediate sprint he lifted his foot. It didn’t matter, with Pogacar on the board, the rules change.

It cleared up, as always happens with Pogacar because he doesn’t take a day off, at the start of El Bartolo, 9.4 kilometers with an average gradient of 7.1%, but ramps of 20%. After Vine, first, and then Pablo Torres – exceptional young rider, signs of a champion to come – set a hellish pace on the climb, after they ran out of strength, Pogacar launched fiercely. He didn’t do it standing on the bike, but limited himself to mechanical stomps, without error, without pause, without weakness. And although several tried to withstand his charge, no one was able to keep up. Or almost no one. Because Mas, from behind, at his own pace, from less to more, was closing meters while growing his ambitions and hopes, a tough climb that earned him to catch Pogacar at the summit.

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The fans shouted and even screams were heard in the press room, because the feat is no small matter since it had been a long time since anyone caught Tadej, because Mas came from a frustrating Giro in which he warned he was heading for the podium and ended up with nothing in the first climbs. “I go day by day,” Mas said these days, now with the lesson learned, that it’s better to be humble than boastful, that you never know how the legs will respond. However, Mas, after overcoming an intervention for thrombophlebitis and regenerating tissue in a torn hand, after two years in which he has not fought for a general classification, has returned; the cyclist with four podiums in the Vuelta wants five. He is close, after gaining 46 seconds on his pursuers in Castellón, now second overall.

After the summit, Mas took the helm because he knew the descent, to the point that in a couple of curves he put his hand out to tell Pogacar to brake, to be very careful. In one of those, Mas took the turn late and almost went off; in another, it was Pogacar who lost the way and almost crashed, saved as good riders do, without falling or anything, a fleeting scare. And between the two, now I pull and then you, now I put in watts to gain seconds and then I follow you, it was enough for them to contest the final sprint. And there Mas no longer had engine or wings, discarded the moment Pogacar put on the turbo. It was the Slovenian’s third victory so far in the Vuelta – half of the stages are his; or more because the Font-Romeu one was canceled due to hail -, the afternoon when Mas said he has returned, that if he sets his mind to it, he can, for a day, humanize Pogacar.

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