'I overcooked it there' – Oscar Onley pays the price after going into the red chasing Tadej Pogačar in the Vuelta a España

There's a very simple reason why Tadej Pogačar wins so many stages alone – other riders have a great deal of trouble keeping up. And yesterday on the Vuelta a España, GC hope Oscar Onley offered a demonstration of what can happen if you simply will yourself through the pain barrier in an effort to stay on the Slovenian's wheel.

Netcompany-Ineos's Onley ended up finishing at the back of the second chase group, 1:38 down on stage winner Pogačar of UAE Team Emirates-XRG. It was an unaccustomed spot for the British 23-year-old, who clung on to his white jersey by just three seconds.

Onley was one of the quickest responders to Pogačar's move on the final climb of yesterday's stage six from Alcossebre to Castelló. But the Brit admitted he was caught out by how difficult the gravelled climb of the Puerto El Bartolo was, and, he says, "paid the price".

“It was pretty hard," he said afterwards. "The gravel went on for longer than I thought it would. I probably just overcooked here a little bit and paid the price towards the top I think."

Following a tricky descent, Onley was grateful to be able to hook up with a four-strong chase group, including Sepp Kuss (Visma-Lease a Bike) and Mattias Skjelmose (Lidl-Trek), with whom he spent the final 10 headwind kilometres.

"I just took the descent at my own pace," he said. "To be honest, I didn’t want to be alone for the headwinds to the finish, so when I saw Skjelmose and Kuss’s group come up to me I was quite relieved. I tried to pull with them and then I just started getting cramps so I was useless."

Onley, who dropped two places on GC to seventh at 5:37, might have done well to listen to his boss Geraint Thomas's Watts Occurring podcast after the Andorra stage, during which the Welshman said that following Pogačar in full flow was pretty much an exercise in futility.

"You’re not going to mark him if, with 50 kilometres to go, he’s riding at seven watts per kilo," Thomas said. "That’s just not possible.”

That said, second place Enric Mas (Movistar) surprised many when he managed to follow yesterday, beating Pogačar to the top of the Bartolo and accompanying him to the finish, where the Spaniard leapfrogged Primož Roglič (Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe) on GC, taking his second place. Mas now sits 3:34 off the race lead – a gap which could easily change after today's seventh stage, as the riders tackle yet another mountainous day, this time with a summit finish at Aramón Valdelinares.