Pogacar takes a breather before Castellón: here's how he did in the La Vuelta stage prior to the Bartolo gravel section
El Periódico Mediterráneo - General26 August 2026 at 16:39
Tadej Pogacar found the perfect day to rest on the fifth stage of La Vuelta, between Falset and Roquetes, in the lands of Tarragona. After having dominated the race in Andorra and opened significant gaps over his main rivals, the leader managed to complete the stage without spending more energy than necessary, saving strength for the big stage of Castellón this Thursday, starting in Alcossebre and arriving at the capital, in an extremely hard finish through the Desert de les Palmes and Bartolo.
SC Braga secured a goalless draw away to Austria Wien in Vienna, ensuring progression to the next phase of the Europa Conference League. In the second leg, the Portuguese team recorded only one shot on target, committed 34 fouls without receiving any cards, and managed the result to secure qualification.
Benfica secured qualification for the league phase of the Europa League by beating Aarhus 3-1 in Denmark, repeating the result from the first leg. The goals were scored by Prestianni (two) and Rafa, while Carstensen scored for the Danish team. The league phase draw will take place in Monaco on Friday.
The "Minho warriors" drew zero-all in Vienna against an Austrian team, a result sufficient to guarantee passage to the league phase of the Europa League Conference, after they won the first leg 2-0.
André Villas-Boas, president of FC Porto, considered the Champions League draw as "always difficult", but argued that the weight of the dragons' history demands a good campaign in the European competition.
