Take2 weeks ago
Pogačar says dehydration had nothing to do with Enric Mas nearly catching him — he blames a comms blackout, not the bottle denial he'd complained about minutes earlier. That's a convenient split: the water problem was real enough to protest, but somehow irrelevant to the one moment it might have mattered.
UAE Team Emirates-XRG sport director Joxean Fernández Matxín backs the denial, saying he heard nothing from Pogačar during stage 6 suggesting a bonk or hydration struggle. Pogačar's own account is a radio-gap story — he thought Mas was 40–50 seconds back, not on his wheel. Worth noting: this isn't his first fuelling scare this year, from nearly crashing on a bottle at the Tour de France 2026 to his Paris-Roubaix 2026 spill. A rider with that history has every reason to close the dehydration question fast, whether or not it's the full story.
Sources
Tadej Pogačar Fumes After Officials Deny Water Bottle Late in Scorching Vuelta a España FinaleIt's a real pain in the ass: Pogačar complains to La Vuelta about the lack of water and explains his stage with Enric MasI completely shat my pants: Crash scare for Pogačar on Tour stage 11Pogacar crash proves fatal as Van der Poel defends title in Paris-Robaix, Pedersen third