Tadej Pogacar requires surgery on a broken collarbone sustained in a crash on stage eight of the Vuelta a España on Saturday which forced him to abandon the race.
The five-time Tour de France champion hit the tarmac with 31km remaining, ending his bid to complete a career clean sweep of the three grand tours.
Pogacar had been leading by 3min 50sec a week into the race and was the overwhelming favourite for victory. Spaniard Enric Mas inherited the overall leader’s red jersey, a minute ahead of Primoz Roglic.
“He is stable and, following a thorough medical assessment at hospital, Tadej has been diagnosed with a concussion, displaced left clavicle fracture, a stable C7 cervical fracture, and multiple abrasions,” said UAE Team Emirates-XRG’s medical director, Adrian Rotunno. “Fortunately, no other major injuries and no neurological fallout. He will require clavicle surgery which will be delayed due to concussion precautions. Tadej remains under the care of our medical team and we’ll provide further updates following the surgery.”
Pogacar fell after brushing shoulders with another rider and losing control of his handlebars. With his entire team waiting as the peloton carried on without them, Pogacar tried to remount after a couple of minutes but cried out “no” and winced in pain when he touched his bike.
He was then led to an ambulance as his teammates set off up the road towards the finish line at Xeraco, near Valencia.
It marks the first time the 27-year-old has failed to finish a grand tour.
Mas (Movistar) took the red jersey after stage eight, becoming the first Spaniard to lead the Vuelta since Jesus Herrada in 2018. Roglic (Red Bull-Bora Hansgrohe) moves up to second overall with Felix Gall (Decathlon CMA CGM) 71 seconds back in third.
At the podium, a sombre Mas accepted the red jersey but did not wear it, holding it in front of him instead. “I hope he gets better quickly,” he said of Pogacar. “We’ve still got a few races left and I hope he’ll be in good shape for them.“
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In July, Pogacar joined a select group of five-time Tour de France winners in Jacques Anquetil, Eddy Merckx, Bernard Hinault and Miguel Induráin. He is the youngest rider to have won five Tours, more than a year younger than Merckx was in achieving the same feat, and is the first person to finish on the podium seven years running. He is also the only rider to have been on the podium in nine consecutive grand tours.
Bryan Coquard (Cofidis) won the stage after several riders went down in another crash in the final kilometre. Mads Pedersen finished second while Jordi Meeus was third. The race continues on Sunday with a 187.5km mountainous ride from Villajoyosa to Alto de Aitana, before a rest day on Monday.