Van Aert saw Pogačar's crash from the front row: 'I was just able to avoid him'

Bryan Coquard (Cofidis) won the eighth stage of the Vuelta a España, but the day will be remembered primarily for Tadej Pogačar’s crash. The Slovenian took a hard fall while wearing the red leader’s jersey. The team leader of UAE Team Emirates-XRG, the top favorite for the race, was unfortunately forced to withdraw. Wout van Aert watched it all happen right next to him.

The Belgian rider from Visma | Lease a Bike spoke to Eurosport after the finish about Pogačar’s crash. “Of course, it’s a strange feeling. This day will be remembered for Tadej’s crash. It was a hard fall. I was right next to him when he lost control of his bike, and I was just able to avoid him. We’ll miss him in the race, and it’s a shame he has to leave the race this way.”

Pogacar crashed with about 33 kilometers to go. A rock on the road ultimately turned out to be the cause of the hard crash. The world champion hit it hard and fell over his handlebars. He took several riders down with him, but he himself seemed to be the biggest victim—both in terms of reputation and physical injury. He withdrew from the race with a sore shoulder.

So Van Aert was right there when it happened. “From what I saw, he was trying to pass some riders on the left,” he says of the crash. “That’s when he hit a pothole or something else on the road. He lost his grip on the handlebars with both hands and crashed into the peloton. He fell hard, as far as I could tell.” With injuries to his face and shoulder, he lay on the ground for a long time.

There had already been several crashes that day. During the neutralized section, two riders had already been forced out of the race due to a crash, and in addition to Pogačar’s tumble, there were three other crashes. Is that due to a lack of concentration, since it was a quiet sprinter’s stage? ‘In a way, yes, especially those crashes during the neutralized section. We’re getting a little tired and losing our focus, so that might have been the cause.”

Pogačar’s crash, however, was a different story, Van Aert explains. “In the final stretch, it happened at a moment when the race was in full swing. Tadej is always on his toes, so he didn’t lose his focus. I’ve often been in his shoes—sometimes you just have bad luck. Tadej has always managed to avoid crashes, but he’s also vulnerable to them. I wish him a speedy recovery.”

Pogačar took several riders down with him. Ben Tulett was one of them. The Brit, Van Aert’s teammate at Visma | Lease a Bike, lay on the ground in great pain and ultimately crossed the finish line nearly ten minutes behind the peloton. Matthew Brennan was furious afterward about his fellow riders’ behavior during the race.