Tadej Pogacar abandons Vuelta a Espana after nasty crash on stage eight

Six-time grand tour champion and Vuelta a Espana leader Tadej Pogacar has abandoned the race after a nasty crash on stage eight.

The two-time world champion was the overwhelming favourite to win the Vuelta, the only grand tour he has yet to win, and won three stages in its opening week. He led the race by nearly four minutes from Movistar’s Enric Mas before his shock crash and abandon with around 33km to go on stage eight.

The race leader appeared to swerve suddenly while travelling in the midst of the peloton along a wide road and crashed hard, with riders falling around and behind him.

He sustained a nasty wound to his left shoulder and the left side of his face, with blood pouring from above his eye and his shoulder, and was immediately attended to by medical staff.

The Slovenian got up unassisted and appeared ready to get back on his bike before shaking his head and sitting down again, before he was helped into a waiting ambulance by staff and taken immediately to hospital.

This is the first time Pogacar has abandoned a grand tour in 10 attempts, the first time he has ever not finished on the podium, and his first withdrawal from a race since breaking his wrist in a crash at Liege-Bastogne-Liege in 2023.

The 27-year-old won this year’s Tour de France in dominant fashion and carried that form into an electric first week at the Vuelta, winning stages one, four and six on his way to establishing a seemingly unassailable lead.

But his crash on an innocuous-seeming stretch of road on the way to Xeraco – reminiscent of his rival Jonas Vingegaard’s unexpected crash on stage 15 of this year’s Tour – blows the race wide open.

Spain’s Mas now leads the overall standings by one minute from Slovenia’s four-time champion Primoz Roglic, with Giro d’Italia runner-up Felix Gall third at 1’11”. Britain’s Oscar Onley leads the best young rider classification and now sits fifth, 2’16” off the pace.

Pogacar’s withdrawal also entirely changes the dynamic of the race. His UAE Team Emirates-XRG squad are now likely to target stage wins through the likes of Joao Almeida and Jay Vine, while Visma-Lease a Bike, who had largely been expected to aim for stages through Wout van Aert and two-time stage winner Matthew Brennan, may now prioritise the general classification hopes of Sepp Kuss. The American won this race in 2023 and now sits fourth overall.