Tadej Pogacar pulled out of the Vuelta a España on Saturday after a heavy fall 31km from the finish of a flat stage eight left him with shoulder and face injuries. The race leader, of UAE Team Emirates-XRG, has won five Tour de France titles and a Giro d’Italia and was targeting his first overall victory in the Spanish 21-day race to join an elite group to have won all three grand tours. 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. The Slovenian had been leading by 3min 50sec over second-placed Spaniard Enric Mas and this marks the first time the 27-year-old has failed to finish a grand tour.
Mas was a minute ahead of Pogacar’s compatriot, former champion Primoz Roglic, while the Austrian Felix Gall was a further 11sec behind. Mas (Movistar) took the red jersey after stage eight, becoming the first Spaniard to lead the Vuelta since Jesus Herrada in 2018. Gall (Decathlon CMA CGM) moves up to second overall, a minute and 11 seconds behind Mas but 22 seconds clear of Roglic. At the podium, a sombre Mas accepted the red jersey but did not wear it, holding it in front of him instead.
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 187.5 km mountainous ride from Villajoyosa to Alto de Aitana, before a rest day on Monday.
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