Vuelta a España stage 20: Tadej Pogačar takes third stage win of the race with 40km solo move

Tadej Pogačar (UAE-Team Emirates) launched an incredible 40km attack to take the penultimate stage of the Vuelta a España on Saturday and grab himself a spot on the overall podium in the process.

The 20-year-old Slovenian held off a fierce chase from Movistar and Astana as they saw their leaders’ podium positions under threat. He finished the stage 1:32 ahead of Alejandro Valverde (Movistar), who came second.

Pogacar finished over 1:50 ahead of both Nairo Quintana (Movistar), and Miguel Ángel López (Astana), pushing the Movistar rider off third spot on the podium and stealing the white jersey of young rider from Lopez.

“It’s incredible,” said Pogacar of his third stage win and podium place. “I was never imagining this, I think I will need a few days to realize what I did.”

Primoz Roglic (Jumbo-Visma) finished fifth on the stage, just 9 seconds behind Valverde, securing the overall victory ahead of Sunday’s ceremonial stage. Today’s results see a Slovenian one-three on the overall podium as the nation head to their first grand tour win.

“We showed sharpness as a team from the start of the stage, and I was able to finish it off well,” Roglic said. “It was a really nice day for Slovenian cycling.”

The tough 190km stage through central Spain to Plataforma de Gredos was up or down all day, with six categorized climbs, including the 8km category 3 ascent to the finish. As if that wasn’t tough enough, it was cold and damp, with heavy showers and high winds battering the peloton throughout.

The first two hours of the stage were full of attacks and it took nearly 70km for the race to settle, when a five-man group went clear and Jumbo-Visma took control of the peloton.

The five attackers, Damien Howson (Mitchelton-Scott), Ruben Guerreiro (Katusha Alpecin), Sergio Samitier (Euskadi-Murias), Nicolas Edet (Cofidis), and Tao Geoghegan Hart (Ineos) were nearly four minutes ahead until the pace in the bunch suddenly changed with 70km to go.

With Lopez needing to take 40 seconds on Quintana to grab a podium spot, his Astana teammates set a fierce pace, reducing the peloton and shrinking the gap to the break.

With 50km to go the race hit the penultimate climb, the category 1 Puerto de Pena Negra, and just Tao Geoghegan Hart (Ineos) and Ruben Gurreiro (Katusha Alpecin) were left out front.

Jakob Fuglsang continued to force the pace from Astana, riding hard into the lower slopes of the climb. Lopez launched several attacks through the 14km ascent, and while he was neutralized every time, his individual accelerations and the strength of Fuglsang’s work reduced the GC group down to around 20 riders. While Roglic was left isolated, there were still handfuls of Movistar and Astana riders in contention.

Pogacar launched his winning move midway up the climb, instantly distancing the group and soon passing both of the breakaway riders. He went over the summit with 90 seconds of an advantage as Movistar upped the pace on behalf of Quintana, who sensed his podium spot under threat.

“I saw that everybody was uncomfortable in the cold and rain,” said the stage winner after the race. “I felt good on the climb, and I attacked because I saw Lopez did some big efforts. I chose the right moment and went full gas to the finish.”

Pogacar continued growing his lead on the long descent into the grinding final 10km to the line, as Movistar continued to pull, with Roglic holding strong in the wheels. Fuglsang again put in a huge turn on the front for his teammate Lopez, but Pogacar managed to hold his lead, riding strong all the way to the line to take his third victory of the race.

With 3km to go, Valverde sensed his second place position under threat and accelerated from the group, distancing his teammate Quintana along with Lopez and a handful of others.

Valverde continued to push all the way to the line, dragging Roglic, Rafal Majka (Bora-Hansgrohe) and Hermann Pernsteiner (Bahrain-Merida) with him. Sensing that every second counted in securing his GC position, the Spaniard accelerated again to take second place on the stage, with Majka placing third.

“My radio wasn’t working so I had no idea of the gaps to Pogacar,” said Valverde. “The fans were yelling at me along the course so I attacked to defend second place. The team did a great job and we finish this Vuelta very satisfied. I was hoping to win a stage but never dreamed of ending up on the podium.”