DISCUSSION - Vuelta a España Stage 4: What are Tadej Pogacar’s limits? The two historic feats the World Champion could achieve

Tadej Pogacar delivered a crushing display on the first mountain stage of the 2026 Vuelta a Espana. The Slovenian attacked on the Collada de Beixalis with around 50 kilometres remaining and quickly dropped Felix Gall, the only rider initially able to follow.

Gall tried to respond to Pogacar’s acceleration but managed to stay with the red jersey for only a few moments. Tadej Pogacar continued alone over the Coll d’Ordino and the Alto de La Comella, building a lead of several minutes over the other general classification contenders.

Pogacar calmly rode towards victory in Andorra la Vella, while his rivals were left fighting for the minor places behind him. After only four stages, the Slovenian has already taken firm control of the Vuelta and dealt a potentially decisive blow to the hopes of his GC rivals.

CyclingUpToDate’s Carlos Silva followed every development of the stage, which started and finished in Andorra la Vella. He was not surprised by the world champion’s dominant display, but was left questioning Decathlon’s strategy and João Almeida’s physical condition.

I really did not understand Decathlon’s strategy today. We already saw them do something similar at the Tour de France, where they set a brutal pace, burned through their entire team and even put Paul Seixas into difficulty. Today, they made exactly the same mistake. They rode so hard that Felix Gall blew his engine before he had the opportunity to do anything, not that he ever actually did.

UAE Team Emirates could only thank Decathlon for doing all the work on the first climb. They did not have to lift a finger and could simply sit in the wheels. On the second climb, Decathlon once again imposed a fierce pace, and Pogacar decided it was time to test the Austrian’s legs. After all, if the French team were riding with that much conviction, they must have been feeling extremely confident.

That confidence disappeared in the blink of an eye. Tadej accelerated, Gall tried to respond… and that was that. The Slovenian then did what he does best: he embarked on a solo ride of more than 50 kilometres. In doing so, he may already have ended the battle for the top step of the GC.

Behind him, the fight between the other GC contenders was entertaining, but experience ultimately prevailed over youthful strength. Sepp Kuss, Primoz Roglic and even Richard Carapaz showed that they did not come to Spain for a sightseeing trip. They are here to fight for the podium places.

The big question beforehand was how the riders would recover from yesterday’s stage, during which they were forced to seek shelter from the severe hailstorm that hit the peloton as it entered the Pyrenees. Fortunately, nobody appeared to have suffered any lasting effects.

However, among the riders whose condition I was particularly curious about, both Alexey Lutsenko and João Almeida were shadows of their usual selves. That was especially true of the Portuguese rider. He is completely out of the fight for the general classification and, judging by the legs he showed today, I genuinely wonder how useful he can still be to his team in this race.

Yesterday, Almeida dropped back to the team car to collect water just as his team were attacking in the crosswinds. Today, he was dropped early and spent most of the stage hanging around at the back of the peloton. Perhaps Almeida would be better off going on holiday and having a complete mental and physical reset. Something is seriously wrong with him.

If the race reaches the final stage with Tadej Pogacar still in the lead, the UAE Team Emirates - XRG rider could make cycling history in several ways. Not only would the Slovenian join the select group of riders to have won all three Grand Tours - Tour de France, Giro d’Italia and Vuelta a España - but he would also win the Vuelta wearing the red jersey, meaning the race would have had just one leader from start to finish.

There is another remarkable feat Pogacar could achieve: winning a Grand Tour before the race had even entered its own country, something never seen before. If there are records to be broken, Pogacar breaks them. And once there are none left, people simply invent a few more, something he surely will not mind.

Javier Rampe of CiclismoAlDia hailed the world champion’s tremendous solo victory, which, in his view, may have effectively ended the Vuelta a España before the race has even entered... Spain.

Tadej Pogacar can compete in the Classics against the greatest rider of his generation in that discipline, Mathieu van der Poel, as well as riders of the calibre of Mads Pedersen and Wout van Aert. In July, he neutralises and torments the best Grand Tour rider of the past five years, Jonas Vingegaard, who would have won six Tours de France were it not for the Slovenian. The UAE Team Emirates rider can also go toe-to-toe with the world’s best time trialists, such as Filippo Ganna and Remco Evenepoel.

Denying that Pogacar is the greatest cyclist of all time is like trying to cover the sun with one finger. The world champion attacked 50 kilometres from the finish today because he did not want to “feel isolated with the GC riders”.

If only we saw that same proactivity from the largely mediocre contingent within the peloton. I say that with respect and with full knowledge of how difficult it is to compete at WorldTour level, particularly given how evenly matched the peloton is.

It is always the same rider who attacks, but it is also the same riders who refuse to surrender. Primoz Roglic and Enric Mas emerged stronger from the stage in Andorra, occupying the other places of honour in the standings. The top ten remains tightly packed, however, with only 40 seconds separating second from tenth.

La Vuelta has not even entered Spain yet, but Pogacar already appears to have settled the battle for the red jersey. He will now want to carry it all the way to Granada and become the race’s only leader across its 21 stages.

And if that, my friends, is not a way of honouring a race, then you tell me what is. The greatest cyclist in history cannot be criticised for the way he races, especially when we remember the suffocatingly dull mountain train once imposed by Sir Dave Brailsford’s Team Sky and Ineos.

Long live Tadej Pogacar. Long live cycling.

Rúben Silva of CyclingUpToDate closely followed the action on the Vuelta a España’s first mountain stage and shared a few brief observations afterwards.

As expected, Tadej Pogacar won the first mountain stage of the race. I did not expect him to attack so early, but he made his move on the hardest climb of the day. By doing it this way, he has effectively given his teammates the freedom to ride their own race instead of having to spend the entire day working for him.

Needless to say, the advantage he has already built should be more than enough for him to feel comfortable in the battle for the overall victory. He has also confirmed that he is operating at a completely different level from the rest of the field.

Behind Pogacar, we were treated to an entertaining fight for the podium. There were no enormous gaps, but the stage offered a clearer indication of where the main contenders currently stand.

Jarno Widar was a hugely positive surprise, while Primoz Roglic confirmed that he is in good shape. Decathlon once again demonstrated the remarkable depth of their team, while both Richard Carapaz and Mattias Skjelmose surprisingly lost time on a stage that appeared to suit them.

The Pyrenees delivered an exciting day of racing and truly opened up the battle for the remaining podium places.

All three journalists reached the same unavoidable conclusion: Tadej Pogacar is racing on a different level. His attack from 50 kilometres out was not reckless but calculated. By taking control himself, he removed any need for UAE Team Emirates - XRG to spend the day defending the red jersey and immediately turned the fight for overall victory into a battle for the remaining podium places.

Their views differ most sharply when it comes to Decathlon. Carlos Silva saw a team that did Pogacar’s work for him, setting such a fierce pace that Felix Gall was already close to his limit when the decisive attack came. The third assessment was more positive, pointing to Decathlon’s strength in depth, but that strength counted for little when Gall was unable to finish the job. A strong collective display means very little if it leaves the team leader without the legs to respond at the crucial moment.

Beyond Pogacar, the stage provided more questions than answers. Primoz Roglic strengthened his podium credentials, while Jarno Widar emerged as the biggest surprise. João Almeida, meanwhile, produced another deeply concerning performance. Pogacar may already have settled the fight for red, but the contest behind him remains wide open. The Vuelta now has one overwhelming favourite and a long list of riders fighting for everything else.