Tadej Pogacar sat on the asphalt with bleeding wounds on his left shoulder and head, then he grabbed his racing bike and didn't want to give up his dream of winning the Vuelta. But nothing worked anymore, the pain was too great. The cycling superstar eventually got into the ambulance and gave up on the eighth stage of the Tour of Spain.
In the hospital, the cycling star had the sad certainty. The season may have been over for him, as Pogacar suffered a displaced fracture of the left collarbone and a stable fracture of the seventh cervical vertebra. This was announced by his UAE team doctor Adrian Rotunno after an examination in the hospital. The world champion also suffered a concussion and numerous abrasions.
“He will need surgery on his collarbone. However, this procedure is initially postponed due to the precautionary measures required in the event of a concussion," said Rotunno.
Crashed 32 kilometers from the finish
This means the big favorite is out. Similar to his Tour rivals Jonas Vingegaard and Florian Lipowitz, Pogacar was forced to retire after a heavy crash at the Vuelta. 32 kilometers from the finish in Xeraco, the Slovenian world champion fell headfirst after a swerve. He also carried away two drivers from the Visma racing team. What the exact cause was initially remained unclear. Pogacar may have avoided a stone on the side of the road.
«That hurts. Not the end anyone was hoping for,” wrote the Vuelta. There were quickly numerous well wishes for Pogacar on the cycling portals.
“He wanted to continue, but his shoulder hurt incredibly. He was bleeding from his eyebrow. He had to be stitched," said UAE sports director Matxin Fernandez and added with regard to the crash: "Nobody is responsible for that. These are things that happen in cycling. We don't know exactly what happened."
Pogacar had his first Vuelta victory in sight
The 27-year-old was well on his way to winning the Vuelta for the first time. After three stage wins, he was already 3:50 minutes ahead of the Spaniard Enric Mas in the overall ranking before the eighth stage. The Tour of Spain is the only Grand Tour that Pogacar is still missing from his list of winners. At the end of July he won the Tour for the fifth time and also won the Giro d'Italia in 2024.
After Pogacar's exit, Mas is now the new front runner. Behind them, four-time overall winner Primoz Roglic can also hope for further success. The eighth stage was won after 171 kilometers from Pucol to Xeraco by Frenchman Bryan Coquard in a sprint ahead of former world champion Mads Pedersen. Shortly before the finish sprint there was a massive crash. Only a small group was still sprinting for victory.
World Cup start in Montreal hardly possible
Pogacar was taken to hospital after the fall. After the diagnosis, it should be clear that he will hardly be able to defend his title at the Road Cycling World Championships in Montreal on September 27th. If you break your collarbone, you should expect a break of at least six weeks. The exceptional athlete won the World Championship road race in 2024 and 2025.
Serious falls are rare at Pogacar. In 2023, the exceptional athlete fell at the classic Liège-Bastogne-Liège and suffered a fractured scaphoid bone. Otherwise, the Tour champion's few falls were rather minor, as was the case in the 2025 Tour. On tours, Pogacar had also finished the race in 50 starts.
On Thursday Pogacar was lucky when he got taxed on the descent of Puerto El Bartolo and had to go to the botany. During the incident, he was able to stay on the bike and immediately resume his journey.
Fall-out like Vingegaard and Lipowitz
The images were somewhat reminiscent of the scenes of his rivals Vingegaard and Lipowitz. Both had fallen during the tour and each suffered a broken collarbone. Vingegaard has already ended his season. As for Lipowitz, it is still unclear whether he will take part again this season.
