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08/27 11:22 CDT Tadej Pogacar continues to dominate, wins another Spanish
Vuelta stage after scare on descent
Tadej Pogacar continues to dominate, wins another Spanish Vuelta stage after
scare on descent
CASTELLO, Spain (AP) --- Tadej Pogacar continued his impressive run at the
Spanish Vuelta on Thursday, winning the sixth stage after going off track and
nearly crashing on a quick descent.
The defending Tour de France champion, seeking a career hat trick of Grand Tour
titles, was able to slow down just enough to stay on his bike and return to the
road to eventually outlast Enric Mas and secure his third stage victory.
The Slovenian from UAE Team Emirates increased his overall lead to 3 minutes,
34 seconds, with Mas of Movistar Team in second place and Primo? Roglic
dropping to third, more than four minutes behind Pogacar.
Pogacar had already put on a dominant performance to win Tuesday's fourth
stage, and he also won the opening stage.
He is trying to become the ninth male rider to win all three Grand Tours races.
Pogacar won the Tour de France for a third straight time and a record-tying
fifth overall in July, and he claimed the Giro d'Italia win in 2024. He had not
raced in the Vuelta since making his Grand Tour debut at the event in 2019,
when he won three stages.
Pogacar is the first rider with three wins in the first six stages since Oscar
Freire in 2007.
He dropped the rest of the riders with less than 25 kilometers (15 kilometers)
to go but was caught by Mas before the final summit. The duo worked together
through the end and Pogacar eventually prevailed at the finish line.
Thursday's sixth-stage featured a mid-mountain route that included a dirt road
on the final climb. A quick descent into the finish line in Castelln
challenged riders and nearly proved costly to Pogacar as he lost control of his
bike and couldn't stay on the road on a sharp turn.
Friday's seventh stage is a 149.8-kilometer (93-mile) mountain route.
The Vuelta finishes in the southern Spanish city of Granada on Sept. 13.
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