UAE Team Emirates’ Tadej Pogacar picked up the Stage 6 win at the Tour of California, a result that gives him the overall lead in the race.

The victory gives Pogacar his first ever UCI WorldTour stage win.

In the General Classification (GC), the Slovenian is 16 seconds ahead of second place Sergio Higuita (EF Education First) heading into the final stage.

Commenting on the day, Pogacar, who is also the leader of the Youth Classification, said: ”It was amazing. Once again my team did a really good job protecting me all day, leading me onto the final climb and supporting me all the way that they could.

“I just did my best in the last five kilometres. I was starting my sprint behind Higuita and he made mistake on last corner and I went through it much faster than him so was able to come around for the win.

“It feels really good. I hope tomorrow I can hold onto the jersey – for sure it would be the biggest win of my career.”

The final stage of the Tour of California takes the peloton 126 kilometres from Santa Clarita to Pasadena where the sprinters will have a final chance to battle it out for a stage win.

Stage 6 results

1 Tadej Pogacar (Slo) UAE Team Emirates 3:48:49

2 Sergio Higuita (Col) EF Education First s.t.

3 George Bennett (NZl) Team Jumbo-Visma +5″

General Classification

1 Tadej Pogacar (Slo) UAE Team Emirates 30:01:56

2 Sergio Higuita (Col) EF Education First +16″

3 Kasper Asgreen (Den) Deceuninck-Quick-Step +20″