Tadej Pogačar underscored his dominance of the 2026 Vuelta a España by winning stage four in Andorra, taking him one step closer to becoming the first rider since 1994 to lead a Grand Tour from start to finish.At two minutes and 38 seconds, the final margin of victory was his largest in a Grand Tour, as well as his longest solo in a three-week race.Already wearing the red jersey after winning the opening time trial by just 0.09 seconds, Pogačar attacked on the Collada de Beixalis climb with 50km remaining.Only Felix Gall, second in the Giro d’Italia, attempted to go with him, but the Austrian rider was quickly gapped by the world champion.
— La Vuelta (@lavuelta) August 25, 2026Pogačar won the first Grand Tour stage of his career in Andorra on his Vuelta debut in 2019, but has not returned for seven years. Should he wrap up the overall victory, the Slovenian will become just the ninth man in history to win all three Grand Tours.After Monday’s stage three was abandoned due to hailstorms, Tuesday was the final opportunity for Pogačar to gain significant time on his rivals in the race’s opening week — though with the final 25km of the stage predominantly descending, the five-time Tour de France winner needed to attack early.Crossing the summit of the day’s final significant climb, the Coll d’Ordino, with a lead of almost three minutes, Pogačar maintained his advantage on the descent to lead the general classification by three minutes and 21 seconds. He also leads both the points and mountains classifications.“The pace was super high over the first climb, so when we were going all out from the bottom, and I was on the wheel of Decathlon (Gall’s team), I didn’t want to be isolated,” said Pogačar. “So I tried with an attack on the climb and hoped I could survive until the finish — and I did it. It was pretty tough but a beautiful day out there.”
