Mas: "It's a beautiful day, but let's not overdo it."

Spanish veteran and Grand Tour specialist Enric Mas wanted to downplay the significance of his achievement today: catching Tadej Pogačar in the finale of stage 6 of the Vuelta a España. "It was a good day for me, but let's not overemphasize it," the Movistar rider stated with his usual sobriety.

Coming back from a long layoff due to injury and illness, the 31-year-old launched a counterattack on the Puerto de El Bartolo, managing to overtake Pogačar at the top of the climb. Not only that, he then coolly mastered a technical and dangerous descent alongside the Slovenian, accompanying him to the finish.

An achievement that takes on even greater significance considering that, after such a long absence from the scene, this was Mas's most spectacular performance in a Grand Tour in years. And despite his assurances that it's not such an exceptional event, the truth is that in recent years, you can count on one hand the number of times Pogačar has been caught in one of his classic solo breakaways.

Four years after Mas's last victory—the 2022 Giro dell'Emilia, which, curiously, also featured Pogačar—the Spaniard managed to repeat his feat with a much more impressive performance. The result? Mas climbs to second place in the overall standings, 3:34 behind Pogačar, putting himself in a strong position to fight for his fifth podium finish at the Vuelta, with the finish in Granada set for September 13th.

"It's been almost two years since I've fought for the overall title in a Grand Tour. We're on stage 6 and we have to take things one step at a time," Mas explained to reporters after finishing second behind Pogačar, the pair having gained a whopping 46 seconds on their closest rivals.

"Pog' is Pog' and we have to take it one day at a time. I'm second in the general classification, I feel good and I thank the team. I went for the sprint at the top of the climb because the team had told me there was a bonus, and when I reached Pogačar I thought: OK, let's try to pass him first. I don't know if he was surprised, but I managed to snatch those six seconds from him."

The technical descent was as crucial as the climb itself for the outcome of the race, with Pogačar briefly going off the road after Mas overdid it on a corner, but he managed to stay in the saddle and rejoin the asphalt. From that moment on, Mas took control of the descent, even waving to his rival, who was following him, ahead of the most dangerous corners.

"I warned him there was a difficult bend, we had to be careful. There was a moment when I overdid it a bit; the road was dirty because it was concrete, but you all saw how well he handles the bike. He went off the road, but when I turned around, he was already back with me."

Mas was as sober as ever when commenting on the dangers of the descent: "We knew it was a concrete descent, the kind we're not used to managing, so I took it calmly; there were a few moments where I skidded, but that's part of the race."

Despite being the first rider to catch Pogačar in a breakaway since Mattias Skjelmose (Lidl-Trek) and Remco Evenepoel (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) caught him at last year's Amstel Gold Race, Mas preferred to look ahead.

"Tomorrow [Valdelinares] there's a hilltop finish that I think could be important for the team," he stressed, "and we'll try to get someone up there."

Yet, just seven days ago, in the pre-race press conference in Monaco, Mas himself had commented that Pogačar's presence at the Vuelta "will have a huge influence on the race and he will do what he wants, one day he will give us all a lot of minutes."

This certainly happened in Andorra, but just two days later, Mas managed to keep pace with Pogačar in a stage that seemed tailor-made for the Slovenian to dominate with the same ease with which he had demolished the Pyrenees.