| Prefer us on Google — see Tips.gg in Top Stories & Discover | Add on Google |
Tadej Pogačar took his third stage victory in six days on stage 6, attacking on the gravel of the Puerto El Bartolo and holding on through a descent scare to win on the road to Castellón. Enric Mas was the only rider able to answer. The Movistar leader was initially dropped before clawing his way back to Pogačar and even surprising the Slovenian near the summit, finishing as the best of the rest and confirming his position in the podium battle. The day was less kind to others: Jarno Widar, second in Andorra, lost almost four minutes, while Jørgen Nordhagen slipped to around 20 minutes down on general classification.
Pogačar leaves the coast with a commanding overall advantage after his 50km solo win in Andorra and the additional time taken towards Castellón. In the points classification, Matthew Brennan remains the central figure after two wins from his first five Grand Tour stages, although Pogačar’s ability to score heavily on summit finishes is the obvious complication in the 21-year-old’s green jersey campaign. The mountains classification is led by Lorenzo Fortunato, who has collected points steadily throughout the opening week, with Santiago Buitrago pressing him after taking points on every categorised climb of stage 6. Movistar’s GC focus is now concentrated entirely on Mas following Cian Uijtdebroeks’ withdrawal with the ankle fracture suffered on stage 2.
Stage 7: The Route and Its Challenges
Stage 7 runs 149.8km from Vall d’Alba to the summit finish at Aramón Valdelinares, leaving the Mediterranean coast and crossing from Castellón into Teruel. Elevation gain is listed at 3,597m, with some sources putting the figure closer to 3,750m. Either way, it is the hardest climbing day of the race so far in terms of metres gained per kilometre, and it arrives immediately after the gravel test towards Castellón with no recovery day in between.
The opening 40km are the easiest of the day, with the road undulating through Vilafamés, La Barona, Les Useres and Costur without any classified climbing. The Puerto El Remolcador then measures 12.4km at 4.3% and tops out after 52.2km. The gradients are manageable for professional climbers, but the climb is long enough to ensure the breakaway fight cannot be a flat-road contest, and plenty of riders will want to be in the move before it begins. After a short descent through Castillo de Villamalefa, the Alto de Zucaina follows at 5.5km and 5%, summiting 83.3km from the finish. Neither climb should trouble the GC group directly; their importance is cumulative.
The decisive section starts with roughly 50km remaining. The Puerto Fuente de Rubielos is only a third-category climb, but at 6km and 6.3% it is steeper than anything earlier in the day and tops out with 44.9km to go. From there, genuinely easy terrain has all but disappeared. The road drags uphill through Rubielos de Mora towards Mora de Rubielos, where the intermediate sprint comes with 26.5km remaining, and just two kilometres later the Puerto de San Rafael begins.
San Rafael measures 11.1km at 4.3%, an average that hides an irregular profile. The opening 3.4km average around 6.6%, the middle section eases considerably, and the final 1.7km rise again to around 7%. The summit comes with only 13.5km left, and after a short descent through Virgen de la Vega the road turns up again almost immediately. Fewer than four kilometres separate the two final climbs, which effectively turns the closing 25km into a single sustained climbing sequence.
Aramón Valdelinares closes the stage at 9.8km and 5.9%, gaining 578m to a finish at 1,963m above sea level. There are sections touching 13% lower down before the gradients ease towards the top, which has clear tactical consequences. Waiting for the final kilometre may leave the strongest climbers without enough road to create meaningful separation, so anyone chasing real GC gaps will likely need to commit on the steeper early ramps or even before the climb begins. Altitude and accumulated fatigue, rather than raw gradient, are what should make this finish selective.
- Puerto El Remolcador | 2nd category | 12.4km at 4.3% | summit at 97.6km to go
- Alto de Zucaina | 3rd category | 5.5km at 5% | summit at 83.3km to go
- Puerto Fuente de Rubielos | 3rd category | 6km at 6.3% | summit at 44.9km to go
- Intermediate sprint | Mora de Rubielos | 26.5km to go
- Puerto de San Rafael | 2nd category | 11.1km at 4.3% | summit at 13.5km to go
- Aramón Valdelinares | 1st category | 9.8km at 5.9% | summit finish at 1,963m
Source: procyclingstats.com
Tadej Pogačar is the outright favourite on ability alone. Three wins in six days, a commanding overall lead and a long, steady climb to finish all point the same way, and nothing about Valdelinares looks unsuited to him. The open question is appetite rather than capability. With his GC position already secure and the Alto de Aitana waiting on stage 9 before the first rest day, UAE Team Emirates-XRG have little strategic reason to spend an entire team controlling almost 150km of difficult roads. That leaves a genuine opening for the breakaway, and it also raises the possibility that UAE simply let one of their own riders go up the road instead.
- Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG)
- Jay Vine (UAE Team Emirates-XRG)
- Enric Mas (Movistar)
- Primož Roglič (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe)
- Felix Gall (Decathlon CMA CGM)
- Oscar Onley (Netcompany INEOS)
- Sepp Kuss (Visma | Lease a Bike)
- Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost)
- Santiago Buitrago (Bahrain Victorious)
- Lorenzo Fortunato (XDS Astana)
- Harold Tejada (XDS Astana)
- Valentin Paret-Peintre (Soudal Quick-Step)
- Andreas Leknessund (Uno-X Mobility)
- Tobias Halland Johannessen (Uno-X Mobility)
- Carlos Rodriguez (Netcompany INEOS)
- Pablo Castrillo (Movistar)
- Iván Romeo (Movistar)
- Jarno Widar (Lotto-Intermarché)
- Jørgen Nordhagen (Visma | Lease a Bike)
The top grouping is short: Pogačar on outright strength, and Jay Vine as the most credible breakaway winner given his record of taking Vuelta summit finishes from the move and the freedom his team can afford him. A tier below sit the climbers who combine strong form with enough of a GC deficit to be released, namely Santiago Buitrago, Lorenzo Fortunato and Valentin Paret-Peintre, alongside Enric Mas as the strongest of the GC group behind the red jersey. The next grouping covers Primož Roglič, Felix Gall, Oscar Onley, Sepp Kuss and Richard Carapaz, all of whom are likely to contest the finish but whose small deficits leave them with little licence to attack the break. The final grouping is made up of the opportunists: Andreas Leknessund, Tobias Halland Johannessen, Carlos Rodriguez, Pablo Castrillo, Iván Romeo, Harold Tejada, Jarno Widar and Jørgen Nordhagen, riders who need the move to go clear early and stay away.
Prediction
The route favours a breakaway more than the summit-finish profile initially suggests. UAE do not need another stage win, the final 50km contain three categorised climbs that reward a genuine climber, and the ideal escapee is someone already far enough down on GC to be given room. Jay Vine fits that description precisely, and with Pogačar’s lead as it stands his team has a reason to let him ride for himself. Santiago Buitrago has been chasing mountain points all week and has the repeated-climbing profile to handle the San Rafael and Valdelinares sequence at altitude, while Lorenzo Fortunato has the strongest incentive of anyone in the break with the polka dot jersey on his shoulders and a category one summit on offer. Behind them, the GC group should race its own contest, with Pogačar likely to finish alongside or slightly ahead of Roglič, Mas, Kuss, Onley, Carapaz and Gall.
Predicted podium: 1. Jay Vine, 2. Santiago Buitrago, 3. Lorenzo Fortunato.
Whatever happens at the front, stage 7 matters most for the fight behind the red jersey. Pogačar has already created separation between himself and the rest of the race; the accumulated climbing, the tactical opportunity on San Rafael and the thin air at 1,963m give the riders chasing second place their clearest chance yet to start creating separation between themselves. Stage 8 from Puçol to Xeraco returns the race to flat terrain and brings the sprinters back into focus, before the Alto de Aitana on stage 9 closes out the opening block ahead of the first rest day. A poor final 10km on Friday could reshape the podium battle well before then.
Summary
- Stage distance: 149.8km, Vall d’Alba to Aramón Valdelinares
- Terrain type: Mountain, summit finish
- Elevation gain: 3,597m (some sources list 3,750m)
- Key climbs: Puerto El Remolcador (2nd cat, 12.4km at 4.3%), Alto de Zucaina (3rd cat, 5.5km at 5%), Puerto Fuente de Rubielos (3rd cat, 6km at 6.3%), Puerto de San Rafael (2nd cat, 11.1km at 4.3%, summit 13.5km to go), Aramón Valdelinares (1st cat, 9.8km at 5.9%)
- Conditions: high-altitude finish at 1,963m with reduced oxygen levels, following more than 30km of climbing in the final 50km
- Favourite for the win: Tadej Pogačar is the strongest rider in the race, but with UAE Team Emirates-XRG unlikely to chase, the preview pick is Jay Vine from the breakaway
- Predicted podium: 1. Jay Vine, 2. Santiago Buitrago, 3. Lorenzo Fortunato
- Start: 13:40 CEST | Estimated finish: around 17:19 CEST