'He is devastated', Pogačar abandon delivers the Vuelta twist nobody wanted

'He is devastated', Pogačar abandon delivers the Vuelta twist nobody wanted

The race leader is stable in hospital after suffering a concussion, displaced left clavicle fracture and stable C7 cervical fracture in his stage-eight crash. Enric Mas inherits a one-minute overall lead.

By Peter Stuart · · 4 min read

Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates XRG) has abandoned the 2026 Vuelta a España after crashing on stage eight while wearing the red leader’s jersey.

Pogačar fell 33 kilometres from the finish of Saturday’s virtually flat 171-kilometre stage to Xeraco. He received roadside treatment for injuries to his shoulder, arm and face before attempting to remount, but the pain prevented him from continuing.

UAE Team Emirates XRG later confirmed that Pogačar had sustained a concussion, a displaced left clavicle fracture and a stable C7 cervical fracture, as well as multiple abrasions. The team said he was stable, had suffered no neurological complications and remained under its medical care.

Pogačar will require surgery on his clavicle, although the procedure will be delayed because of concussion precautions. The team did not give a recovery timeline.

Results

Aug 29

Velora
PosRiderTeamTime
🥇
Bryan Coquard
COFIDIS3:47:06
🥈
Mads Pedersen
LIDL-TREK+0:00
🥉
Jordi Meeus
RED BULL - BORA - HANSGROHE+0:00
4
Ben Turner
NETCOMPANY INEOS+0:00
5
Jordan Labrosse
DECATHLON CMA CGM TEAM+0:00
6
Alessandro Romele
XDS ASTANA TEAM+0:00
7
Bastien Tronchon
GROUPAMA-FDJ UNITED+0:00
8
Hugo Hofstetter
NSN CYCLING TEAM+0:00
9
Orluis Alberto Aular Sanabria
MOVISTAR TEAM+0:00
10
Matthew James Brennan
TEAM VISMA | LEASE A BIKE+0:00
11
Vito Braet
LOTTO INTERMARCHÉ+0:00
12
Matevž Govekar
BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS+0:00
13
Alessandro Covi
TEAM JAYCO ALULA+0:00
14
Henok Mulueberhan
XDS ASTANA TEAM+0:00
15
Timo de Jong
TEAM PICNIC POSTNL+0:00
16
Marc Brustenga Masague
EQUIPO KERN PHARMA+0:00
17
Christophe Laporte
TEAM VISMA | LEASE A BIKE+0:00
18
Timo Roosen
TEAM PICNIC POSTNL+0:00
19
Finn Lachlan Fox Fisher-Black
RED BULL - BORA - HANSGROHE+0:00
20
Alexis Renard
COFIDIS+0:00
21
Vincenzo Albanese
EF EDUCATION - EASYPOST+0:00
22
Wout van Aert
TEAM VISMA | LEASE A BIKE+0:00
23
Hamish Mckenzie
TEAM JAYCO ALULA+0:00
24
Lorenzo Rota
LOTTO INTERMARCHÉ+0:00
25
Pau Marti Soriano
NSN CYCLING TEAM+0:00
26
Roman Ermakov
BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS+0:00
27
Cesar Macias Estrada
BURGOS-BURPELLET-BH+0:00
28
Valentin Madouas
GROUPAMA-FDJ UNITED+0:00
29
Rudy Molard
GROUPAMA-FDJ UNITED+0:00
30
Harold Alfonso Tejada Canacue
XDS ASTANA TEAM+0:00
31
Guillaume Martin Guyonnet
GROUPAMA-FDJ UNITED+0:00
32
Ethan Edward Hayter
SOUDAL QUICK-STEP+0:00
33
Fabian Weiss
TUDOR PRO CYCLING TEAM+0:00
34
Lawrence Warbasse
TUDOR PRO CYCLING TEAM+0:00
35
Alberto Dainese
SOUDAL QUICK-STEP+0:00
36
Paul Ourselin
COFIDIS+0:00
37
Clément Berthet
GROUPAMA-FDJ UNITED+0:00
38
Ibon Ruiz Sedano
EQUIPO KERN PHARMA+0:00
39
Jacopo Mosca
LIDL-TREK+0:00
40
Milan Vader
PINARELLO-Q36.5 PRO CYCLING TEAM+0:00
41
Jakob Omrzel
BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS+0:00
42
Mathijs Paasschens
BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS+0:00
43
Victor Langellotti
XDS ASTANA TEAM+0:00
44
Julien Bernard
LIDL-TREK+0:00
45
Oscar Onley
NETCOMPANY INEOS+0:00
46
Embret Svestad-Bårdseng
NETCOMPANY INEOS+0:00
47
Finlay Xavier Pickering
TEAM JAYCO ALULA+0:00
48
Jack Leonard Haig
NETCOMPANY INEOS+0:00
49
Mattias Skjelmose Jennow Jensen
LIDL-TREK+0:00
50
Thibau Nys
LIDL-TREK+0:00
51
Filippo Zana
SOUDAL QUICK-STEP+0:00
52
Sente Sentjens
ALPECIN-PREMIER TECH+0:00
53
Gregor Mühlberger
DECATHLON CMA CGM TEAM+0:00
54
Gianmarco Garofoli
SOUDAL QUICK-STEP+0:00
55
Gijs Leemreize
TEAM PICNIC POSTNL+0:00
56
Ivan Romeo Abad
MOVISTAR TEAM+0:00
57
Koen Bouwman
TEAM JAYCO ALULA+0:00
58
Attila Valter
BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS+0:00
59
Olivier le Gac
GROUPAMA-FDJ UNITED+0:00
60
Enric Mas Nicolau
MOVISTAR TEAM+0:00
61
Felix Gall
DECATHLON CMA CGM TEAM+0:00
62
Enzo Paleni
GROUPAMA-FDJ UNITED+0:00
63
Matthew Riccitello
DECATHLON CMA CGM TEAM+0:00
64
James Shaw
EF EDUCATION - EASYPOST+0:00
65
Richard Antonio Carapaz Montenegro
EF EDUCATION - EASYPOST+0:00
66
Jorge Arcas Peña
MOVISTAR TEAM+0:00
67
Urko Berrade Fernandez
EQUIPO KERN PHARMA+0:00
68
Sander de Pestel
DECATHLON CMA CGM TEAM+0:00
69
Jasha Sütterlin
TEAM JAYCO ALULA+0:00
70
Cristian Rodriguez Martin
XDS ASTANA TEAM+0:00
71
Jose Luis Faura Asensio
BURGOS-BURPELLET-BH+0:00
72
Axel Laurance
NETCOMPANY INEOS+0:00
73
Sepp Kuss
TEAM VISMA | LEASE A BIKE+0:00
74
Oliver Peace
TEAM PICNIC POSTNL+0:00
75
Fredrik Dversnes
UNO-X MOBILITY+0:00
76
Martin Tjøtta
UNO-X MOBILITY+0:00
77
Callum Thornley
RED BULL - BORA - HANSGROHE+0:00
78
Juan Felipe Rodriguez Contreras
EF EDUCATION - EASYPOST+0:00
79
Lennard Kämna
LIDL-TREK+0:00
80
Georg Steinhauser
EF EDUCATION - EASYPOST+0:00
81
Yevgeniy Fedorov
XDS ASTANA TEAM+0:00
82
Callum Scotson
DECATHLON CMA CGM TEAM+0:00
83
Gianni Moscon
RED BULL - BORA - HANSGROHE+0:00
84
Paul Double
TEAM JAYCO ALULA+0:00
85
Tobias Halland Johannessen
UNO-X MOBILITY+0:00
86
Stefan Küng
TUDOR PRO CYCLING TEAM+0:00
87
Hannes Wilksch
TUDOR PRO CYCLING TEAM+0:00
88
William Barta
TUDOR PRO CYCLING TEAM+0:00
89
Lars Craps
LOTTO INTERMARCHÉ+0:00
90
Jarno Widar
LOTTO INTERMARCHÉ+0:00
91
Léo Bisiaux
DECATHLON CMA CGM TEAM+0:00
92
Gianni Vermeersch
RED BULL - BORA - HANSGROHE+0:00
93
Primož Roglič
RED BULL - BORA - HANSGROHE+0:00
94
Reuben Thompson
LOTTO INTERMARCHÉ+0:00
95
Louis Rouland
COFIDIS+0:00
96
Arthur Kluckers
TUDOR PRO CYCLING TEAM+0:00
97
Fabio van den Bossche
SOUDAL QUICK-STEP+0:00
98
Mikel Landa Meana
SOUDAL QUICK-STEP+0:00
99
Lucas Wade Hamilton
NETCOMPANY INEOS+0:00
100
Clement Alleno
BURGOS-BURPELLET-BH+0:00
101
Mario Aparicio Muñoz
BURGOS-BURPELLET-BH+0:00
102
Hugo Houle
ALPECIN-PREMIER TECH+0:00
103
Gal Glivar
ALPECIN-PREMIER TECH+0:00
104
Kaden Alexander Groves
ALPECIN-PREMIER TECH+0:00
105
Lindsay de Vylder
ALPECIN-PREMIER TECH+0:00
106
Steffen de Schuyteneer
LOTTO INTERMARCHÉ+0:00
107
Patrick Konrad
LIDL-TREK+0:00
108
Rudy Porter
TEAM JAYCO ALULA+0:00
109
Darren van Bekkum
XDS ASTANA TEAM+0:00
110
Marco Brenner
TUDOR PRO CYCLING TEAM+0:00
111
Santiago Buitrago Sanchez
BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS+0:00
112
Ivan Cobo Cayon
EQUIPO KERN PHARMA+0:00
113
Rémy Rochas
GROUPAMA-FDJ UNITED+0:00
114
Nicholas Schultz
NSN CYCLING TEAM+0:00
115
Bruno Armirail
TEAM VISMA | LEASE A BIKE+0:00
116
Sylvain Moniquet
COFIDIS+0:00
117
Sergio Samitier Samitier
COFIDIS+0:00
118
Jose Manuel Diaz Gallego
BURGOS-BURPELLET-BH+0:00
119
Jesus Herrada Lopez
BURGOS-BURPELLET-BH+0:00
120
Emanuel Buchmann
COFIDIS+0:00
121
Walter Calzoni
PINARELLO-Q36.5 PRO CYCLING TEAM+0:00
122
Lorenzo Fortunato
XDS ASTANA TEAM+0:00
123
Valentin Paret Peintre
SOUDAL QUICK-STEP+0:00
124
Mats Wenzel
EQUIPO KERN PHARMA+0:00
125
Mauri Vansevenant
SOUDAL QUICK-STEP+0:00
126
Edward Dunbar
PINARELLO-Q36.5 PRO CYCLING TEAM+0:00
127
Darren Rafferty
EF EDUCATION - EASYPOST+0:00
128
Andreas Leknessund
UNO-X MOBILITY+0:00
129
Jørgen Nordhagen
TEAM VISMA | LEASE A BIKE+0:00
130
Asbjørn Hellemose
TEAM JAYCO ALULA+0:00
131
Frederik Wandahl
RED BULL - BORA - HANSGROHE+0:00
132
Simon Dalby
UNO-X MOBILITY+0:00
133
Raul Garcia Pierna
MOVISTAR TEAM+0:00
134
Moritz Kretschy
NSN CYCLING TEAM+0:00
135
Carlos Rodriguez Cano
NETCOMPANY INEOS+0:00
136
Thomas Gloag
PINARELLO-Q36.5 PRO CYCLING TEAM+0:00
137
Jan Hirt
NSN CYCLING TEAM+2:30
138
Steven Kruijswijk
TEAM VISMA | LEASE A BIKE+2:30
139
Henri François Renard Haquin
TEAM PICNIC POSTNL+0:00
140
Christopher Hamilton
TEAM PICNIC POSTNL+0:00
141
Juan Martinez Huertas
TEAM PICNIC POSTNL+0:00
142
George Bennett
NSN CYCLING TEAM+0:00
143
Pello Bilbao Lopez de Armentia
BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS+0:00
144
Pau Miquel Delgado
BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS+0:00
145
Oscar Chamberlain
DECATHLON CMA CGM TEAM+3:00
146
David de la Cruz Melgarejo
PINARELLO-Q36.5 PRO CYCLING TEAM+0:00
147
Andreas Lorentz Kron
UNO-X MOBILITY+3:22
148
Francesco Busatto
ALPECIN-PREMIER TECH+0:00
149
Michael Gogl
ALPECIN-PREMIER TECH+0:00
150
Ramses Debruyne
ALPECIN-PREMIER TECH+3:22
151
Alexey Lutsenko
NSN CYCLING TEAM+3:22
152
Roland Thalmann
TUDOR PRO CYCLING TEAM+3:51
153
Pablo Castrillo Zapater
MOVISTAR TEAM+3:55
154
Carlos Canal Blanco
MOVISTAR TEAM+3:55
155
Marcel Camprubi Pijuan
PINARELLO-Q36.5 PRO CYCLING TEAM+0:00
156
David Gonzalez Lopez
PINARELLO-Q36.5 PRO CYCLING TEAM+0:00
157
Xabier Mikel Azparren Irurzun
PINARELLO-Q36.5 PRO CYCLING TEAM+0:00
158
Ivan Ramiro Sosa Cuervo
EQUIPO KERN PHARMA+4:18
159
Luke Tuckwell
RED BULL - BORA - HANSGROHE+5:16
160
Magnus Nielsen
UNO-X MOBILITY+9:41
161
Rasmus Tiller
UNO-X MOBILITY+9:41
162
Sinuhe Fernandez Rodriguez
BURGOS-BURPELLET-BH+9:41
163
Iñigo Elosegui Momeñe
EQUIPO KERN PHARMA+9:41
164
Ben Tulett
TEAM VISMA | LEASE A BIKE+9:41
165
Alastair Mackellar
EF EDUCATION - EASYPOST+9:41
166
Jay Vine
UAE TEAM EMIRATES XRG+11:33
167
Ivo Emanuel Alves Oliveira
UAE TEAM EMIRATES XRG+11:33
168
Joao Pedro Gonçalves Almeida
UAE TEAM EMIRATES XRG+11:33
169
Pablo Torres Arias
UAE TEAM EMIRATES XRG+11:33
170
Domen Novak
UAE TEAM EMIRATES XRG+11:33
171
Mathias Norsgaard
LIDL-TREK+11:33
172
Pavel Sivakov
UAE TEAM EMIRATES XRG+11:33
173
Kevin Vermaerke
UAE TEAM EMIRATES XRG+11:33

Joxean Fernández Matxín, sporting director at UAE Team Emirates XRG, said Pogačar had an open wound above his eyebrow and could not put pressure on his left arm when trying to stand.

“Tadej wanted to continue at first, but it was clear to us that it was too painful to continue,” Matxín said. “He has a wound on his eyebrow and a lot of pain in his shoulder. I cannot yet say exactly what the damage is.”

Matxín later said to AS: “He is devastated.”

The precise cause of the crash remains unclear. Footage appeared to show Pogačar’s front wheel striking or swerving around an object near the left side of the road before he lost control and made contact with another rider.

Wout van Aert (Team Visma-Lease a Bike), who was riding nearby, believed Pogačar had hit a hole while passing riders on the left.

“It was a big crash,” Van Aert said. “I was close to him when he lost control of his bike. I was able to avoid him narrowly.”

Pogačar had won three of the opening seven stages and established a substantial general-classification advantage. His withdrawal ends his attempt to win the only Grand Tour absent from his palmarès, following five Tour de France victories and his 2024 Giro d’Italia title.

The Slovenian had returned to the Vuelta for the first time since finishing third and winning three stages on his Grand Tour debut in 2019. He entered this year’s race as the overwhelming favourite, but leaves with his first abandonment in 10 Grand Tour appearances.

Mas inherits the red jersey

Enric Mas (Movistar Team) moved into the overall lead and chose not to wear the red jersey during the podium ceremony. “I did not win the red jersey today,” he said.

The official classification gives Mas a one-minute advantage before Sunday’s mountain finish at Alto de Aitana, the first of several major climbs remaining in the race.

Bryan Coquard (Cofidis) won the stage in a bunch sprint, securing his first Grand Tour victory after 40 previous top-10 stage finishes. Pogačar’s UAE teammates crossed the line together 11 minutes later.

La Vuelta had been proceeding along a now well-trodden path of general classification dominance from Pogačar as well as an impressive collection of stage wins. Mas had presented the only real challenge to the Slovenian on stage 6, but it was not a challenge that for a moment put Pogačar’s win in doubt.

Pogačar’s exit from the race leaves us with an open race, but not in the way any cycling fans wanted to see. Meanwhile Pogačar’s recovery timeline will cast serious doubts on whether the Slovenian rider will defend his World Championship title. If he isn’t able to race, his lack of rainbow stripes will cast a long shadow on the 2027 season ahead.

Peter

Peter Stuart

Editor

Peter is the editor of Velora and oversees Velora’s editorial strategy and content standards, bringing nearly 20 years of cycling journalism to the site. He was editor of Cyclingnews from 2022, introducing its digital membership strategy and expanding its content pillars. Before that he was digital editor at Cyclist, and then Rouleur. Before joining Cyclist in 2012, he completed freelance work for titles including The Times and The Telegraph. He has reported from Grand Tours and WorldTour races, and previously represented Great Britain as a rower.