So near but so far. The grimace and shake of his head as Tadej Pogačar crossed the finish line a scant ten metres behind Volta a Catalunya stage 1 winner Nick Schultz said it all about his frustration at a painfully close miss.
The UAE Team Emirates rider later said he had hesitated just a fraction too long when Schultz bolted out of the pack on the long, draggy rise to the finish at San Feliu de Guixols. The Slovenian closed down the gap to the bare minimum, but he ran out of road just as it seemed like he would catch his prey.
After a comprehensive warm-down at the team bus, as well as a long discussion with teammates Marc Soler, João Almeida and team management, Pogačar headed onto the bus for a welcome shower.
But while later admitting that he had “fucked up a little bit,” Pogačar also recognised that Schultz’s victory had been richly deserved. And, of course, Vallter 2000, the first of two Pyrenean summit finishes, is already looming large on the Slovenian’s horizon.
“It was a really nice day, I enjoyed it a lot on these roads, this weather, a good peloton and the team worked really hard, everyone did a super job and then I can say I fucked it up a little bit in the final,” Pogačar said afterwards.
“I should have closed Nick Schultz’s gap immediately not thinking someone else would close it. But unfortunately for me, I was thinking too long.”
Directeur sportif Joxean Fernandez Matxin was philosophical about Pogačar’s near miss.
“It’s the way the race turned out, and that’s it, he [Schultz] could get that gap and stay ahead” he told Cyclingnews. “Marc did a great job on the descent and João was up there as well. But a group of 10-12 riders got round them in the last part, and then Schultz got away.”
Although Pogačar and his teammates made a pronounced acceleration over the top of the Grau and then kept in front on the descent, Matxin explained that “it wasn’t so much an attack as to be in the right position and stay as safe as possible.”
Soler, who hails from Catalunya and Almeida, who finished second overall in the Volta in 2022, were the logical choices to do that.
As statements of intent and a show of strength, Matxin agreed, Pogacar’s late charge for the line boded more than well.
“It was a good finish for him, but when it’s a tough little 700 final metres, and even if you take control with two…
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