Pogacar repeats his performance at the Volta a Catalunya in front of a brave Landa

He Angliru, one of the toughest ports in the world. Three-way battle for La Vuelta between teammates. And then the figure appeared Mikel Landa. “He told me that if I wanted to win the Vuelta I had to follow him. “I am eternally grateful to Mikel and will pay for all his beers from now on,” he explained. Sepp kiss in the documentation Everything in the trilogy, in reference to the invaluable help that the Alavés surprisingly gave him in becoming an Asturian colossus. Through this cooperation, the Americans minimized their losses Primoz Roglic and Jonas Vingegaard and managed to conquer the Spanish round. This Wednesday, in the third stage of the Return to Catalonia, The “Eagle of Durango” tried to return the favor to Landa on the final climb to Port Ainé, but there was no way… Tadej Pogacar is currently unavailable. The Slovenian returned to the exhibition alone, just as he had done 24 hours earlier in Vallter 2000, and left the audience to the verdict. Landa, once again the best of the rest, is 2:27 behind the new leader. Game over.

The heavy rains and low temperatures on the second stage provided a reprieve for the third stage, which promised a sunnier and more pleasant day. The route, on the other hand, was anything but bearable with three high mountain passes and almost 4,000 meters of altitude. The menu, ideal for a new Pogacar binge, which didn’t stop eleven brave people from trying it from the getaway: Vansevenant, Juanpe López, Carthy, Prodhomme, Tejada, Juul-Jensen, Ethan Hayter, Sosa, Kron, Williams and Leknessund.

The UAE-controlled peloton kept them at bay at all times, aware of the Escape’s enormous climbing ability. Arrived at the second port, the endless one Port de Canto (25.5 km at 4.2% average) Visma upped the ante by setting a pace that was impossible for the breakaways to counter. There was a tense calm in the race until the arrival of the Port Ainé, the stage where the final battle between the favorites took place.

The range of possibilities for causing harm was extremely wide 18.4 km at 6.7% average, So Landa tried to change the planned script. The Alavés got to work Lecerf and Shepherd, Who selected the maximum group of chosen ones? With 7km to go, Landa took action. Unfortunately for him, his bravery was not rewarded. The answer from Pogi It was more violent than his attack. From there to the end The story of Vallter 2000 repeated itself, with Pogacar increasing the differences to a Landa who once again became the best of all mortals.

“I knew it was going to be hot. I wanted to try to finish with him, but I couldn’t. It’s dangerous to be in the red with it because you can pay for it later. “There is still a lot of work to be done to defend this second place,” said the Spaniard, who didn’t make it easy Pogacar admitted to having difficulties: “This time Mikel was the first to attack. I wanted to ride with him so it wouldn’t make a big difference, but the last two kilometers were hard for me.” This Thursday, in the fourth stage, the scenario changes completely with a 169 km route between Sort and Lleida with a predictable outcome of the sprint.

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