“I overcooked it and paid the price” - Oscar Onley suffers cramps and major Vuelta time loss after daring to follow Tadej Pogacar
CyclingThursday, 27 August 2026 at 18:16
Oscar Onley paid a heavy price for attempting to follow Tadej Pogacar on Puerto El Bartolo, seeing his overall deficit to the red jersey grow by almost two minutes after briefly matching the decisive attack on Stage 6 of the 2026 Vuelta a Espana.
The Netcompany INEOS leader suffered cramps after being dropped on the gravel climb and fell from fifth to seventh overall. Onley did retain the white jersey, but his advantage over Ramses Debruyne was reduced to only three seconds.
Onley began the final climb fifth overall at 3:45 behind Pogacar, having overcome illness earlier in the race to establish himself among the leading podium contenders. UAE Team Emirates – XRG controlled the approach to Puerto El Bartolo before placing Pogacar in position to attack with four kilometres remaining to the summit.
When the red jersey accelerated, Onley was the only rider initially capable of following. The Scot moved onto Pogacar’s wheel as Primoz Roglic, Enric Mas, Richard Carapaz and Felix Gall were distanced.
Onley pushes beyond his limit on the gravel
Within moments, Pogacar moved clear and began passing the remaining breakaway riders, while Onley dropped back towards the other favourites. “It was pretty hard,” Onley told official La Vuelta media after the stage. “The gravel went on for longer than I thought it would. I probably just overcooked here a little bit and paid the price towards the top, I think.”
Mas subsequently attacked from behind, caught Pogacar and crossed the summit ahead of the red jersey. Roglic and Gall formed the next group on the road, while Onley continued losing ground alongside Carapaz.
Rather than take further risks on the technical descent, the 23-year-old focused on reaching the flatter roads without incident. “I just took the descent at my own pace,” he explained. “To be honest, I didn’t want to be alone for the headwinds to the finish, so when I saw Skjelmose and Kuss’s group come up to me I was quite relieved. I tried to pull with them and then I just started getting cramps, so I was useless.”
Pogacar and Mas reached the finish together, while Roglic, Gall, Carapaz, Harold Tejada and Debruyne conceded 46 seconds. Onley finished further behind and ended the day 5:37 from the red jersey, remaining behind Sepp Kuss while dropping below Carapaz and Gall in the general classification.
Onley retains the White Jersey by only 3 seconds
Debruyne closes to within three seconds
Debruyne transformed the youth classification by surviving from the day’s 16-rider breakaway and joining the Roglic chase group during the descent.
The Alpecin‑Premier Tech rider climbed four places to eighth overall and moved from third to second in the white jersey standings. His deficit to Onley fell from 59 seconds to just three.
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“I’m not surprised, Ramses Debruyne is a strong rider,” Onley said. “But there’s still over two weeks to go, so I don’t think it’s gonna be a matter of three seconds by the end. I think we’re the same age. I remember racing him as a junior. We were in the break together in the Dauphine, I think he went second on the stage. I know he’s a strong rider, and the way he rode today is obviously impressive.”
Onley remains seventh overall and retains the white jersey, but Debruyne now sits immediately behind him in both classifications ahead of another summit finish on Stage 7.
Kieran WoodDeputy Editor-in-Chief
Kieran Wood is a sports journalist based in Wales and has been active in journalism since 2022. He regularly contributes to DartsNews.com and CyclingUpToDate.com, where he covers professional cycling and darts. In cycling, his work includes liveblogs from major races, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España, alongside race reports and analysis. He has also conducted interviews with professional riders.
His reporting spans the full racing calendar, from one-day classics to stage races, with a focus on accurate, real-time coverage and clear contextual analysis. For statistics, results, and historical context, he regularly uses resources such as ProCyclingStats. To support reporting on rider activity and training context where relevant, he also references Strava.
In his work, Kieran places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles as new, verified information becomes available.
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- Pogačar and Mas going 1 - 2 like it's Il Lombardia 2022. What an amazing climb by Mas. Seriously. Is he suddenly positioned to be second to a Slovenian, once again?RidesHills27-08-2026
- Sure no problem you can shut up if you wantabstractengineer27-08-2026
- Not many million... just a little over two million of Slovenians...PogiSloFans27-08-2026
- I have huge bollocks... 🩸 😂😂PogiSloFans27-08-2026
- YesPogiSloFans27-08-2026
- It was very admirable that Josh even started the Vuelta in the first place. I can't begin to imagine what he's had to deal with for the past couple of weeks.
santiagobenites27-08-2026 - Noabstractengineer27-08-2026
- I said what I said, so shush. Capish?PogiSloFans27-08-2026
- Some are saying Pogačar has the best team around him. My bollocks... his team at the Vuelta is so "good" that his only serious help is Vine - who hasn't finished a single race since January and Pablo Torres - who had knee surgery 4 months ago and this is his first grand tour. Almeida is overrated, always was, just like Ayuso. You all have to realize that Pogi alone is a TEAM. God gave Pogi almost everything...talent as if it came directly from him... health, fame... he is a sports icon. He rules the world. Ad acta!!! PS: OMG, I'm using the word God... but I'm an atheist :))PogiSloFans27-08-2026
- Alright the first thing he said was wrong, Seixas did Dauphine, 8 days, already last year. Also, the logical conclusion is that Pogacar had a lot more room for improvementvappaxbipmv27-08-2026
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