“It’s a real pain in the ass”: Pogačar complains to La Vuelta about the lack of water and explains his stage with Enric Mas

Tadej Pogačar won the sixth stage of the Vuelta a España 2026 after a spectacular duel with Enric Mas, but crossed the finish line in Castellón with a significant complaint towards the organization. The race leader explained that he requested water about 15 kilometers from the finish, on a day contested with temperatures reaching 34 °C, but received no response from either the commissaires or the organization vehicles.

Pogačar requested water in the last 15 kilometers and received no bottle

The sixth stage of the Vuelta a España 2026 had practically everything for Tadej Pogačar. He attacked at the Puerto de El Bartolo, was surprisingly caught by Enric Mas near the summit, nearly fell during the dangerous descent, and ultimately triumphed over the Spaniard in the sprint in Castellón.

However, after achieving another victory and reinforcing his lead, the Slovenian wanted to highlight an episode that occurred during the final kilometers: he ran out of water and could not get the organization to provide him with a bottle.

"When we reached 15 kilometers to go, I asked for a bottle, I was looking for water, but there was no response from the commissaire or the organization car," Pogačar explained after the stage.

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The UAE Team Emirates-XRG rider particularly expressed his displeasure with the conditions under which the race was being held.

"I was a bit disappointed because we are competing in this heat, and if you don't have a bottle during the last 15 or 20 minutes, it's a real pain in the ass," he added.

The stage had taken place with temperatures of up to 34 °C, in addition to humidity and wind, before facing the decisive section of the Puerto de El Bartolo, whose summit included a gravel sector.

The commissaires applied the limit set before the stage

The situation has a regulatory explanation. The race jury had communicated the previous afternoon that feeding would be prohibited during the last 20 kilometers of the stage.

Pogačar had received a bottle earlier, in the last permitted area located at the bottom of the Puerto de El Bartolo. Images showed the Slovenian using some of that water to cool off before tackling the most demanding slopes and the dirt section.

When he later requested another bottle, he was already within those last 20 kilometers where feeding was not allowed. Therefore, according to the information published after the stage, the commissaires simply enforced the rule that had been communicated beforehand.

Pogačar's complaint, therefore, does not point so much to a change of criteria during the race as to the appropriateness of maintaining that restriction in a stage contested under such high temperatures.

Despite running out of water, the UAE Team Emirates-XRG ruled out that the leader had suffered a bonk or a serious hydration problem. Joxean Fernández Matxín assured after the finish that during the stage they had not received any indication from Pogačar pointing in that direction.

Pogačar did not know that Enric Mas was coming from behind

The lack of water was also not the explanation Pogačar gave for Enric Mas's comeback in the final meters of El Bartolo.

The Slovenian had attacked 3.7 kilometers from the summit, after the work done by Jay Vine and Pablo Torres, and race references had him with a considerable lead over the other favorites.

The problem was that Pogačar was unaware that Mas had broken away from the group and was quickly cutting down the gap.

"I really didn't know Mas was there because I heard the favorites' group was at 40 and then at 50 seconds," he explained.

Pogačar also acknowledged that his lack of knowledge of the climb may have led him to mismanage his effort. The leader of the Vuelta had not previously recognized the climb, and Mas took advantage of his knowledge of the terrain to make a very different ascent.

The speed at which the Movistar rider appeared was such that it initially bewildered the world champion.

"He arrived like three times faster right at the top, and I thought: ‘What is happening? Is a spectator overtaking me?’"

The surprise did not last long. Pogačar quickly identified Mas and understood that the Spaniard was having a great day.

A mistake in the descent almost cost him much more than the stage

There was still another scare. After summiting together, Mas and Pogačar faced an extremely narrow and steep descent in which the leader ended up going off the road in a curve.

Pogačar managed to keep the bike upright and immediately return to the asphalt, but later admitted that the incident could have ended very differently.

"I knew it was a very dangerous descent and with a bad road, but when they tell you something is risky, you really don't know how it is until you're there."

After passing Mas, Pogačar decided to make his own descent and ended up making the mistake that took him off the asphalt.

"I'm glad I stayed on the bike. It could have easily been a hard fall," he acknowledged.

After overcoming the incident, both collaborated on the way to Castellón and fought for victory in a two-man sprint in which Pogačar was clearly superior.

The Slovenian thus concluded a day in which he showed more vulnerability than usual, but which ended again with victory. Pogačar finished 46 seconds ahead of the other main favorites, while Enric Mas rose to second place in the general classification, 3:34 behind the leader. Primož Roglič finished third at 4:21.