Tadej Pogačar Fumes After Officials Deny Water Bottle Late in Scorching Vuelta a España Finale

Tadej Pogačar blasted Vuelta a España officials Thursday after he said a race officials refused to give him a water bottle in the final 15km of a brutally hot stage that nearly ended with the race leader crashing out.

Pogačar survived the white-knuckle descent off the treacherous Puerto El Bartolo and then beat Enric Mas in a two-up sprint, but the red jersey was still irritated at the finish after going without water during the decisive finale.

“But then when we came to 15k to go, I asked for the bottle. I’m looking for water but there was no response from the commissar or organization car,” Pogacar said. “I was a bit disappointed there because we are racing such heat and if you don’t have a bottle in the last 15-20 minutes it’s a big pain in the ass.”

Temperatures soared to 34°C (93°F), with gusting winds and heavy humidity battering the peloton all day before the upper half of the final climb was raced over dusty, exposed gravel roads.

The UCI race jury confirmed Wednesday evening that the feed zone would end with 20km remaining on Thursday’s stage.

That cutoff effectively shut down feeding as Pogačar and the peloton came off the final climb, with roughly 20km remaining across the descent and run to the finish line.

Pogačar was seen grabbing a final bottle near the foot of the climb and pouring water over his head before tackling the steep gravel ascent.

There had been speculation that Pogačar might have suffered from dehydration or a hunger flat when Mas dramatically closed him down near the summit, but Pogačar did not cite either as a factor.

UAE Emirates-XRG sport manager Joxean Fernández Matxín also told Velo at the finish that he heard nothing from Pogačar during the stage to suggest he was suffering a bonk or struggling for a lack of hydration.

‘Is this a spectator?’

Instead, Pogačar said confusion over the time gaps left him completely unaware that Mas was bearing down on him.

“I really didn’t know that Mas is there because I heard a group of favorites is 40 then 50 seconds behind, so I was, just say, OK, I need to come to the finish of this climb,” he said. “I also didn’t know the climb very well, so I think I faced it this all wrong, and then he came like triple speed next to me on just on the top and I was.

“What’s going on? Is this a spectator coming past me?”

Pogačar quickly realized it was no fan on the gravel summit.

“I quickly realized that for sure he knows this climb and he put a strong effort,” he said. “So yeah, I was immediately focused on him there and I knew that he’s on a good day.”

A near-miss on wild descent

The drama was not finished. UAE officials confirmed to Velo that Pogačar did not recon the climb before the race.

Pogačar narrowly avoided disaster on the brutally steep, narrow descent when he veered off course before somehow keeping his bike upright and scrambling back onto the pavement.

“It was very steep indeed. I knew it’s a very dangerous downhill and steep road. But you know when people tell you it’s a risk, but you can’t really know until you’re there. This downhill was not really suitable for taking good lines and you just brake as much as you can. And then he did a small mistake and I passed him. I was thinking,” he said. “OK, I go my own lines down and yeah, it was a mistake.”

Pogačar dodged a bullet and narrowly missed crashing that could have ended his bid to win this Vuelta.

“I’m glad and happy that I stayed there on the bike, that could be easily a big crash for me. I’m just happy I was back on the roads quick and that was not too long.”

Pogačar and Mas regrouped after the scare and drove together to the finish, where Pogačar won the stage and Mas climbed into second overall at 3:34.

Never a dull day at the Vuelta a España.