Shake-up at the Tour: Pogacar abandons due to a hard crash

BarcelonaThe Vuelta a Espanya is left without its best cyclist and great favorite. When everything suggested that Tadej Pogacar would give his rivals no chance – as usual – and, after overwhelmingly winning the Tour de France, would add another competition to his palmarès, the Slovenian has fallen on the eighth stage of the Spanish race and will not be able to continue wearing the red jersey.

Pogacar suffered a hard crash 32 kilometers from the finish and had to abandon in an ambulance with his shoulder full of blood. Hours after the accident, several people have commented on social media about a video in which an object resembling a stone appears on the road, moments before the Slovenian's fall, and which could be the cause of the setback.

According to Dr. Álvaro Ortiz, one of the doctors who attended him on the road, Pogacar tried to continue without success. "He tried to get on the bike, but when he rested his left arm he could not exert pressure," Ortiz described. Subsequently, the team confirmed the condition of the Slovenian rider: "He is stable with a concussion, a fracture of the left collarbone, stable cervical fracture and multiple abrasions. Fortunately, there are no other serious injuries or neurological sequelae. He will require collarbone surgery, which will be delayed due to concussion precautions".

The incident occurred on Saturday's stage which took place between Puçol and Xeraco, in the Valencian Community, and which ended with victory for the Frenchman Bryan Coquard. The cyclist from Artà (Mallorca), Enric Mas — who did not wear red at the subsequent ceremony out of respect — is the new leader of the general classification with an advantage of one minute and eleven seconds over the Austrian Felix Gall, second. The Slovenian Primoz Roglic completed the podium one minute and thirty-three seconds behind the leader. All in all, a stage marked by crashes. In addition to the incident that caused Pogacar's withdrawal, a few meters before the finish line another accident also occurred, which resulted in several cyclists on the ground.

It is the first time that the Slovenian cyclist abandons a stage race as a professional after ten years competing at the highest level. With three stage victories in this edition, Pogacar made a statement in Andorra, where he finished as the solo leader with more than two and a half minutes ahead of his pursuers. The UAE team cyclist arrived at Saturday's stage with a three-minute and fifty-second lead over Enric Mas and a four-minute and fifty-second lead over Primoz Roglic.

It is not the only unforeseen event that the competition has encountered. Jonas Vingegaard – another of the leading figures in current cycling – was unable to participate in the current edition due to a fall while racing the Tour de France, which he also had to abandon.