Pogačar abandon overshadows Coquard's excellent sprint win on crash-filled stage 8 of the Vuelta a España

The eighth stage of the Vuelta a España was won by Bryan Coquard. The Frenchman from Cofidis beat Mads Pedersen and Jordi Meeus in the mass sprint on the day that Tadej Pogacar crashed out. The Slovenian from UAE Team Emirates-XRG was involved in a major crash and had to abandon the race in the red leader's jersey with injuries to his shoulder and face.

The eighth stage offers a rare opportunity for the sprinters, so the major teams with a fast rider on their roster will want to control the race. But what will Visma | Lease a Bike do? Matthew Brennan has won both stages that ended in a sprint so far, and the Brit could seemingly make it a third with ease.

At Visma | Lease a Bike, however, Wout van Aert has taken the lead in the battle for the green jersey and the points classification. At the intermediate sprint in Simat de Valldigna and at the finish in Xeraco, there are plenty of points up for grabs for the Belgian, who, in principle, will have to ride for Brennan. Or will we see some surprising moves from the yellow-and-black team?

Van Aert, however, was already clear beforehand. 'Never change a winning team,' said the Belgian. 'To be honest, I don't expect too big a selection on that climb. There are also wide roads afterwards, so with this form, I don't expect Matthew Brennan to get into trouble. He is also our best chance if it comes down to a sprint.' And so, Visma | Lease a Bike took responsibility for racing from kilometer zero.

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Even before the start, however, there was a major crash. This caused the start to be briefly delayed, and once the race had begun, two riders found they were unable to continue: Diego Uriarte (Equipo Kern Pharma) and Floris Van Tricht (NSN) had to withdraw. Primoz Roglic (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe) was also involved in the crash, but he appeared to be able to continue without any problems.

When the race finally got underway, Sinuhé Fernandez (Burgos Burpellet BH) was the only rider to break away. He set off on a long solo ride. Later in the day, there was another crash involving three riders. Of these, Mattia Gaffuri was the worst affected: the Italian from Picnic PostNL, like Uriarte and Van Tricht, was forced to abandon the race.

Meanwhile, Fernandez continued to push on steadily, but behind him it was Steven Kruijswijk who was doing all the work on his own. The 39-year-old Dutchman, who is riding his final Grand Tour, led the chase for over a hundred kilometres. He steadily whittled down the gap of almost four minutes. With fifty kilometres to go, the Spaniard at the front still had just over a minute’s lead.

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The race continued at a leisurely pace until another crash. Just before the final climb, Tadej Pogacar went down, and the red jersey wearer took a number of riders down with him. He was in pain, particularly in his left shoulder. He wanted to get back on his bike, but was unable to do so: he was helped into the ambulance. He withdrew from the race whilst in the lead.

For a moment, the peloton was at a loss as to what to do. The pace remained completely flat for a long time, but after a while it picked up again. Visma | Lease a Bike controlled the second-category climb, but the other sprinters were not dropped. Xabier Mikel Azparren (Pinarello – Q36.5) still dared to make a move at the summit and set off on his own.

Behind him, riders kept falling. A crash involving, amongst others, Jan Hirt (NSN) and Carlos Canal (Movistar) took place in the final ten kilometres, but Roland Thalmann (Tudor) was left in a painful position. Everyone managed to get back on their bikes, though. Meanwhile, Azparren held on at the front for a while longer: the time trialist had timed his attack perfectly.

He entered the final kilometres with a narrow lead, but was caught just before the finish line. Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe finally saw a real opportunity for sprinter Jordi Meeus, but Lidl-Trek and Visma | Lease a Bike also made their move. Brennan, however, was boxed in, after which a crash took out many more sprinters. In the chaos, Brennan was unable to get involved, leaving Coquard just too quick for Pedersen and Meeus.

1. Bryan Coquard

2. Mads Pedersen

3. Jordi Meeus