{"id":2119203,"date":"2026-08-29T19:25:15","date_gmt":"2026-08-29T16:25:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2119203"},"modified":"2026-08-29T19:25:15","modified_gmt":"2026-08-29T16:25:15","slug":"did-a-rock-cause-tadej-pogacar-to-crash","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2119203","title":{"rendered":"Did a Rock Cause Tadej Poga\u010dar to Crash?"},"content":{"rendered":"
Published August 29, 2026 01:25PM<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
The Vuelta a Espa\u00f1a is still reeling after Tadej Poga\u010dar crashed out of the race late in Saturday\u2019s stage 8.<\/p>\n
Video replays of the live broadcast suggest a stone or rock on the edge of the roadway could have caused the world No. 1 to go down.<\/p>\n
That is still subject to confirmation: UAE Emirates-XRG officials said they did not know exactly what caused the crash and team officials have not yet released any official reaction from the Slovenian.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn the first moment he wanted to continue, but there was shoulder pain. It was a bad moment and it was obvious that he could not continue in the race,\u201d Joxean Fern\u00e1ndez Matx\u00edn said. \u201cHe went directly to ambulance and now he\u2019s with the doctor.\u201d<\/p>\n
Poga\u010dar was positioned near the front of the peloton on the left side of the road as the bunch sped toward the day\u2019s third-category summit.<\/p>\n
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Tucked in behind UAE teammate as well as some riders from Visma-Lease a Bike, Poga\u010dar can be seen crashing heavily onto the tarmac.<\/p>\n
He first was shunted to the right and into another rider, then appeared to be thrown forward and sharply downwards. He was left with a wound to his head, visible scratches on his helmet and a bloodied shoulder.<\/p>\n
An official medical report revealed Poga\u010dar had suffered an acromioclavicular sprain or fracture, as well as head trauma plus a laceration above his left eyebrow.<\/p>\n
Peloton perspective from Onley, Warbasse<\/h2>\nTadej Poga\u0107ar was enjoying the experience of his second Vuelta until Saturday\u2019s stage 8 (Photo: Alexander Hassenstein\/Getty Images)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
Oscar Onley (Netcompany-Ineos) was also embroiled in the same crash as Pogacar. He spoke about the accident in an interview with La Vuelta.<\/p>\n
\u201cI came down and crashed,\u201d the Briton said. \u201cI was really lucky actually. Hopefully Tadej is okay because we were going really fast and it\u2019s quite scary. I managed to come off pretty well, so yeah, all good.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Onley is another of the GC competitors in the race. He started the day sixth overall and moved up one place as a result of Poga\u010dar\u2019s misfortune.<\/p>\n
He was asked about the cause of the accident but couldn\u2019t shed much light on that.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have no idea,\u201d he answered. \u201cWe were sitting behind UAE and Visma and then suddenly there are bodies everywhere. There was braking, and then trying to stay upright.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was actually really chaotic today, I think. When it\u2019s been such an easy day, everyone\u2019s maybe a little bit sleeping. I think that\u2019s kind of the case in the neutral [too].\u201d<\/p>\n
American pro Larry Warbasse gave his own angle on things.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was super-fast run into the town and there was a bunch of bollards in the road,\u201d he said. \u201cEveryone is going left and right, and then, boom! There was a big crash on the left.<\/p>\n
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\u201cWe heard Poga\u010dar went down and everyone slowed down in the bunch. Everyone was waiting to hear. Then you hear he\u2019s not moving and then, a minute or two later, you hear he is out of the race.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2018There was a heavy feeling in the bunch\u2019<\/h2>\nUS rider Larry Warbasse (Tudor Pro Cycling) gave an insight into the stage 8 crash (Photo: Tim de Waele\/Getty Images)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
Things are suddenly a lot tighter at the top at the Vuelta. Enric Mas (Movistar) started the day second overall, almost four minutes back, but is now wearing the race leader\u2019s jersey for the first time in his career.<\/p>\n
Primo\u017e Rogli\u010d (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) is one minute back while Felix Gall (Decathlon CMA CGM) is at 1:11.<\/p>\n
Sepp Kuss (Visma-Lease a Bike), Onley and Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost) are between 2:15 and 2:22 behind.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it\u2019s going to be quite a different race now,\u201d Onley said. \u201cIt\u2019s going to be quite a lot more open. Obviously, my goals don\u2019t change and the people I\u2019m racing against don\u2019t change either. So, for me, nothing really changes.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut maybe for stage wins, for break races and stuff, they get a bit more opportunity now.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Sunday\u2019s stage is one of the toughest of the race. There\u2019s 4952 vertical meters to contend with and while that will introduce its own danger with multiple descents, Onley believes flatter stages such as Saturday\u2019s have their own issues.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn the final, everyone\u2019s fresh because it\u2019s been such an easy day. Everyone\u2019s keen for a proper sprint finish, I guess,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cObviously all crashes are unnecessary, but it just seemed like \u2026 there\u2019s no real point to stress today.\u201d<\/p>\n
The race rolls on but the organisers, the media and the fans will likely miss Poga\u010dar\u2019s presence.<\/p>\n
Warbasse seems to suggest an element of regret within the peloton too.<\/p>\n
\u201cEveryone was a bit sad. There was a heavy feeling in the bunch,\u201d he said. \u201cNow the race is open, but everyone felt bad, that\u2019s not how you want him out of the race.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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Andrew Hood<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Published August 29, 2026 01:25PM<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
[analyse_image type=”featured” src=”https:\/\/velo-cdn.outsideonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/GettyImages-2292566790.jpg”] Andrew Hood Published August 29, 2026 01:25PM The Vuelta a Espa\u00f1a is still reeling after Tadej Poga\u010dar crashed out of the race late in Saturday\u2019s stage 8. Video replays of the live broadcast suggest a stone or rock on the edge of the roadway could have caused the world No. 1 to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[226,71],"class_list":["post-2119203","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics","tag-crawlmanager","tag-velo-outsideonline-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2119203","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2119203"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2119203\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2119203"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2119203"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2119203"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"Tadej](\"https:\/\/velo-cdn.outsideonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/GettyImages-2292487118.jpg?width=3840&auto=webp&quality=75&fit=cover\")
![\"US](\"https:\/\/velo-cdn.outsideonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/GettyImages-2292449125.jpg?width=3840&auto=webp&quality=75&fit=cover\")