The Vuelta a España has seen a dramatic reshuffle, as race leader Tadej Pogačar has been forced to abandon the race after a crash.
Until then, the 171-kilometre flat stage had been relatively sedate, with most riders saving their energy for tomorrow’s heavy mountain stage.
But with 31 kilometres remaining, the World Champion was felled by what appeared to be a stone on the left-hand side of the road, which caught his wheel and caused him to lose balance. A number of other riders, including Oscar Onley (Netcompany INEOS), Ben Tulett (Visma-Lease a Bike) and Pavel Sivakov (UAE Team Emirates-XRG), were brought down with him.
At first, Pogačar remained seated, with medical staff dabbing blood away from his neck and shoulder, and his concerned teammates standing around him.
Grimacing, Pogačar attempted to remount his bike, but before he had slung a leg over the saddle, he was shaking his head: no. He doubled over, clutching his left arm, with a deep cut on his shoulder and a bloodied face.
Once medical staff had applied a bandage and sling to Pogačar’s arm, he was ushered towards an ambulance – and his race, unfortunately, was put to an abrupt and unexpected end.
Pogačar has been taken to hospital for treatment and checks. The extent of his injuries has not yet been made clear.
Meanwhile, at the front of the peloton, uncertainty reigned. Lidl-Trek and Decathlon CMA CGM gestured for the peloton to slow down while they waited for news; riders looked at each other, or took to their radios.
Pogačar’s UAE Team Emirates-XRG teammates were encouraged to ride on, and were eventually told by their team car that their leader had been forced to abandon the race. They finished the stage as a group, more than 11 minutes behind the peloton, applauded by fans as they crossed the finish line.
“This is the hard side of cycling – the crashes,” said UAE sports manager Matxin Fernandez. “Tadej is a historic rider. He has won three stages in the Vuelta a España, with more than three minutes’ [lead]. It was a good situation, but similar to Jonas [Vingegaard’s crash] in the Tour de France, this hard side has touched Tadej directly.”
“I think we start to get tired, that may be one reason [for the crashes],” Wout van Aert commented after the stage. “With Tadej crashing out, it’s a big loss for the race, and something we rarely saw from him. I hope he will recover well. We will miss him in the race.”
Onley, who managed to escape the crash without injuries, also shared his perspective. “I came down in the crash with Pogačar. I was really lucky actually. Hopefully, Tadej is okay, because we were going really fast and it was quite scary. I came off pretty well. I have no idea what happened. We were sitting behind UAE and Visma, and suddenly there were bodies everywhere.”
He added: “I think it’s going to be a quite different race now. It’s going to be quite a lot more open. My goals don’t change and the people I’m racing against don’t change either. For me, nothing really changes. But maybe for stage wins, for breakaways and stuff, they get bigger opportunities now.”
Pogačar’s sudden departure has left a vacuum at the top of the general classification. Enric Mas (Movistar) is now in first place, with a minute’s lead, with Primož Roglič (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe) second and Felix Gall (Decathlon CMA CGM) third.
Only six minutes separate the top 10 – and, with tomorrow’s 4,900-metre mountain stage on the menu, the stakes have suddenly become higher. Pogačar had had almost four minutes on Mas, but with his premature departure, the race has been blown wide open.
Mas, however, declined to wear the red jersey at the podium ceremony out of respect for Pogačar. "To be honest, I know this is sport and cycling, but Tadej crashed, I didn’t win the red jersey, so I think to not put it on now is something to show the respect to him,” he said.
“Now, another race starts. I hope we are ready for it. Tomorrow is one of the hardest stages, with stage 20. We will try to enjoy the stage and the place, and I know the team will do a super good job.”
