MADRID, Aug. 27 (Xinhua) -- Tadej Pogacar (UAE-Team Emirates) strengthened his grip on this year's Vuelta a Espana (Tour of Spain) cycle race on Thursday when he claimed his third stage win of the race, beating Enric Mas (Movistar) in a sprint finish after the pair had escaped on the final climb of a tough 177.5 kilometer stage between Alcossebre and Castellon.
Pogacar now leads the Vuelta with 3 minutes and 34 seconds advantage over Mas, who moves into second place, with Primoz Roglic (Red Bull-Bora Hansgrohe) in third, 4 minutes and 21 seconds behind.
The break of the day formed with around 90 kilometers to ride and included 16 riders, including Wout van Aert (Visma-Lease a Bike), Pello Bilbao and Santiago Buitrago (Bahrain Victorious), Patrick Konrad (Lidl-Trek), Ramses Debruyne (Alpecin-Premier Tech) and George Bennett (NSN Cycling Team).
Pogacar's UAE team worked hard to reel in the breakaway before the final Puerto de Bartolo, which included a testing three-kilometre section of dirt road and ramps of up to 17 percent gradient.
That saw the race leader look to attack again, but after seeming to ride off the front with his typical ease, Mas (Movistar) was able to match the Slovenian and even nipped ahead to take the mountain points at the summit.
Pogacar then tried to attack again in the opening kilometers of the narrow and twisty descent, but had a big scare when his back-wheel locked on a corner and although his handling skills allowed him to stay upright, it allowed Mas to again catch up and the pair descended together.
Mas and Pogacar combined efforts in the last 10 kilometers into Castellon to extend their lead over the chasing group, which included Roglic and Richard Carapaz (EF Education-Easypost), before Pogacar's better sprint took him to another stage win, while Mas has the consolation of moving into second in the overall standings.
Friday sees a mountain stage with five categorized climbs ending with a first category haul to the top of Valdelinares to finish, which could see Pogacar further extend his lead. ■