As Tadej Pogacar gingerly stepped into the waiting ambulance, a funereal hush descended on the peloton. His teammmates rolled forlornly over the finish line together like soldiers mourning a fallen commander; new race leader Enric Mas refused to don the red jersey out of respect for the patron.
But cycling waits for no-one and by the next day the general classification battle ignited in earnest. Stage nine’s full-throttle racing between the top names set the tone for how this Vuelta a Espana will play out, with four men poised to capitalise on Pogacar’s untimely exit.
