Tadej Pogačar’s bid to grab his first La Vuelta title was cut short prematurely after he went down during stage eight of the Vuelta a España on Saturday, blowing the fight for the red jersey wide open.
Chaos and drama reigned over the first week of La Vuelta, with riders facing the first of the race’s gruelling climbs, a dangerous hailstorm and a leader that already had a nearly-four minute lead over his nearest competitor.
Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates XRG) had been on course to finish the week on the top – until a crash sent him out of the race for good.
Pogačar ends triple Grand Tour title bid
The Slovenian has been a dominant force since the season started, winning nearly all of the races on his programme excluding the Paris-Roubaix, which was won by Wout van Aert.
He took his fifth Tour de France title just last month, before deciding to race La Vuelta in a bid to follow in the footsteps of his greatest rival Jonas Vingegaard (Team Visma Lease-a-Bike) to grab his triple Grand Tour crown.
From the onset of La Vuelta, Pogačar fought aggressively to win the opening time trial stage before taking two more stage wins right after.
Stage eight looked more like an opportunity for the sprinters to battle it out in the finale at Xeraco with just over 1,200 metres of elevation gain.
Sinuhé Fernandez of Burgos Burpellet BH was the first to attack at the start, and was able to put in a gap of more than five minutes from the peloton until Visma upped the ante to reel in the breakaway.
Fernandez was eventually caught before the immediate sprint, but the tension soon snapped after several riders crashed before the climb up Puerto de Barx.
That included Pogačar.
The Slovenian was seen trying to get back up his bike, but visible injuries on his left arm, shoulder and face prevented him from doing so.
With his teammates surrounding him, Pogačar was led to a nearby ambulance, spelling the end of his race.
The stage also saw another crash in the sprint finale, with Bryan Coquard of Cofidis maneuvering through the chaos to take the win and his first Grand Tour success.
Coincidentally, Pogačar’s crash came after Vingegaard went down the deck during the Tour de France, which also forced him out of the race. He sustained a broken collarbone due to the crash.
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World title defence in doubt
A medical report from UAE confirmed Pogačar suffered “a concussion, displaced left clavicle fracture, a stable C7 cervical fracture, and multiple abrasions.”
While the team added there were no other major injuries or any neurological fallout, it has already raised questions about whether he will be fit to defend his world title in Canada in late September.
Pogačar has remained positive despite the crash, posting a selfie while he was on a hospital bed just a day later.
With Pogačar now out of the picture, Enric Mas from Movistar Team takes in the reins as the new race leader, although he refused to wear the jersey on the presentation after stage eight.
“To be honest, I know this is sport and cycling, but Tadej [Pogačar] crashed, I didn’t win the red jersey, so I think to not put it on now is something to show respect to him,” Mas said in a post-race interview.
Mas to defend red jersey
Mas has shown a resurging form since the Vuelta started, climbing up the ranks to settle second behind Pogačar before his crash.
He showed just how much he was willing to defend the lead after he won mountainous stage nine on Sunday, beating Netcompany INEOS’ Oscar Onley in a duel to the finale.
“Now I understand Tadej [Pogačar] – the jersey really gives you wings!” he told reporters after the race.
Mas now has a gap of one minute and 18 seconds from Red Bull–Bora–Hansgrohe’s Primož Roglič, who is bidding to take his fifth Vuelta title this year.
In the GC fight are also Felix Gall of Decathlon CMA CGM Team, Richard Carapaz of EF Education – EasyPost and Mattias Skjelmose of Lidl-Trek.
Visma’s very own Sepp Kuss has also surprisingly gone up the ranks, riding alongside the GC leaders to show his prowess as a versatile rider.
This is especially significant, as Kuss won La Vuelta 2023 to form an all-Visma podium with Roglič and Vingegaard.
Kuss was also Roglič’s super domestique who helped him win Grand Tours when they were still teammates at Visma.
Van Aert’s own aggressiveness has allowed him to claim the lead of the points classification category after the exit of Pogačar.
Onley remains at the top of the youth classification category, while Santiago Buitrago of Bahrain – Victorious has surpassed Mas in the King of the Mountains contest.
Perfect leadout, emotional victories, and a dangerous hailstorm
Besides crashes, La Vuelta also offered a dramatic twist in its first few stages.
A dangerous hailstorm forced the cancellation of stage three, with many riders scrambling to enter a hotel on route to take shelter.
Visma’s Matthew Brennan also snatched his second win in stage five in what could be described as another perfect leadout from teammates Christophe Laporte and van Aert.
Meanwhile, Norwegian squad Uno-X Mobility stamped their authority as a new WorldTour team after Andreas Leknessund snatched an emotional victory in stage seven with teammate Tobias Halland Johannessen right after him on a day where all of Norway was grieving the death of King Harald V.
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