Vuelta 2026: Pogacar bests Mas in two-up sprint

fotobureau Cor VosOn the steep Puerto de Bartolo, Tadej Pogacar launches an attack. He drops everyone on the gravel sections, but to his surprise, Enric Mas comes back just before the summit. The two ride together to the finish, where the red-jersey wins the sprint. Mas moves up to second place in the GC. (Slideshow route/profile)

Stage 6 Results – 2026 Vuelta

1. Tadej Pogacar (slo) 4:12:04
2. Enric Mas (spa) s.t.
3. Ramses Debruyne (bel) + 0:46
4. Richard Carapaz (ecu) s.t.
5. Harold Tejada (col) s.t.
6. Felix Gall (aut) s.t.
7. Primoz Roglic (slo) s.t.
8. Cristián Rodríguez (spa) + 1:38
9. Clément Berthet (fra) s.t.
10. Mattias Skjelmose (den) s.t.

11. Sepp Kuss (usa) s.t.
12. Oscar Onley (gbr) s.t.
24. Jarno Widar (bel) + 3:48

GC after stage 6

1. Tadej Pogacar (slo)
2. Enric Mas (spa) + 3:34
3. Primoz Roglic (slo) + 4:21
4. Richard Carapaz (ecu) + 4:50
5. Felix Gall (aut) + 4:55
6. Sepp Kuss (usa) + 5:36
7. Oscar Onley (gbr) + 5:37
8. Ramses Debruyne (spa) + 5:40
9. Mattias Skjelmose (den) + 5:58
10. Harold Tejada (col) + 6:30

Race report
On the Coll de la Bandereta, no breakaway has formed yet when Gijs Leemreize, Andreas Kron and George Bennett jump clear. Santiago Buitrago bridges across, and the quartet crest the climb just ahead of the peloton. Buitrago takes the most mountain points once again, before a group of twelve riders, including Wout van Aert, Ramses Debruyne and Thomas Gloag, joins the quartet on the descent.

The breakaway riders extend their advantage to more than 2 minutes, while Van Aert loses contact on Alto de Desierto de las Palmas.

Just before the gravel section of the Puerto de Bartolo, the breakaway's advantage has dropped to half a minute when Tadej Pogacar accelerates. Only Oscar Onley, Richard Carapaz and Felix Gall can follow — for a while, at least. The red-jersey soon finds himself alone and immediately presses on towards the front of the race.

With 2.9 kilometres to go to the summit, he catches the last remaining breakaway rider, Debruyne, and rides straight past him. Just before the summit, he sees Enric Mas come alongside, with the Spaniard cresting the climb first. The two descend together.

With 2.9 kilometres to go to the summit, he catches the last remaining breakaway rider, Debruyne, and rides straight past him. Just before the summit, Enric Mas comes alongside, with the Spaniard cresting the climb first. The two plunge into the descent together, where Pogacar soon opens up a small gap, but in doing so runs off the road. He quickly recovers and decides not to take any further risks.

Once they reach the bottom, they have a 15-second lead over the first chasers, Primoz Roglic, Felix Gall and Ramses Debruyne. A further 15 seconds back are Richard Carapaz and Harold Tejada, while a group containing Sepp Kuss and Oscar Onley trails by 1 minute and a half.

In the flat final kilometres, the two leaders work together superbly. They continue to pull further clear of the chasers, where Carapaz and Tejada regain contact. In the sprint, Mas is no match for Pogacar, while Debruyne caps an excellent stage by beating Carapaz in the sprint for third place.

Another interesting read: route 6th stage 2026 Vuelta a España.