A rock on the road may have brought an end to Tadej Pogacar's Vuelta a España (and season)

Tadej Pogacar is out of the Vuelta a España, but anyone who saw the Slovenian world champion from UAE Emirates-XRG get into the ambulance knew right away that this might spell the end of his season. With the World Championships and European Championships (in Slovenia) still to come after a hoped-for overall victory in the Vuelta, everything has suddenly gone awry. And according to people on the scene, a rock may have been the cause.

Pogacar’s crash was very strange, because he suddenly lost control of his bike, even though he’s usually in complete control of the situation. Lack of focus? That didn’t seem to be the case anyway, since Pogacar was riding on the left side of the peloton, quite far forward. Moreover, we’d just had an intermediate sprint, and the finish of Stage 8 was approaching.

An external factor? Yes, as it turned out. The Eurosport commentators quickly pointed out—right from the motorcycle— a large rock lying on the side of the road, at the spot where Pogacar had fallen. A silly rock, just like that silly roundabout in the Tour de France involving Jonas Vingegaard and Visma | Lease a Bike. It can’t be…

Tadej Pogačar finished stage 7 of the Vuelta a España strongly after a late attack on the final climb, following an acceleration by Decathlon CMA CGM for Felix Gall. Enric Mas suggested Pogačar was frustrated and motivated by a grudge, though he didn’t specify why.

Pogačar said he kept his team’s tempo when Gall created a gap and then pushed to the summit, focusing on the general classification. Mas remains second overall, 3:50 behind Pogačar and one minute ahead of Primož Roglič, stressing a step-by-step approach. Pogačar called it a straightforward day, saved energy, didn’t use teammates, and expects Stage 9 to be among the toughest. Read more