Tadej Poga\u010dar is out a Spanish hospital and is heading home in what\u2019s an encouraging step in his recovery from the devastating crash that ended his Vuelta a Espa\u00f1a.<\/p>\n
Poga\u010dar\u2019s partner Ur\u0161ka \u017digart shared a photo Wednesday evening before the world champion headed home, two days after undergoing surgery on his fractured left collarbone.<\/p>\n
The photo, posted on Instagram, showed Poga\u010dar walking in flip-flops with his injured arm in a sling, bandages across his upper chest and knee, and abrasions on his raised hand as he flashed a playful \u201crock on\u201d gesture toward the camera.<\/p>\n
Poga\u010dar was pictured without a neck brace. He was joined by \u017diga Jerman, his trusted friend and UAE team soigneur<\/em>.<\/p>\n The UAE Emirates-XRG superstar crashed at high speed during Saturday\u2019s stage 8 and was forced to abandon. Doctors later confirmed a displaced fracture of his left collarbone, a C7 cervical fracture, and a concussion, along with extensive cuts and abrasions. UAE said he suffered no neurological damage or other serious injuries.<\/p>\n Leaving the hospital is the next step in Poga\u010dar\u2019s recovery.<\/p>\n So far, no timeline has been released about a possible return to racing this season or if he can consider starting the UCI road worlds in Montr\u00e9al on September 27.<\/p>\n Spanish media first reported that Poga\u010dar left the Barcelona hospital Wednesday, perhaps sooner than initially expected.<\/p>\n Poga\u010dar was first treated at a hospital in Gandia before being transferred by ambulance to Dexeus University Hospital in Barcelona early Sunday.<\/p>\n Doctors waited until Monday evening to operate because of concussion protocols.<\/p>\n The collarbone injury proved more complicated than initially feared, according to Spanish newspaper El Peri\u00f3dico<\/em>, which cited medical sources familiar with the procedure.<\/p>\n Catalan trauma surgeon Dr. Xavier Mir \u2014 who\u2019s worked with elite MotoGP riders \u2014 led the operation, which finished at around 6 p.m. Monday.<\/p>\n \u201cThe operation required pins and plates to reconstruct the collarbone. The cyclist now needs a reasonable period to compete again,\u201d El Peri\u00f3dico<\/em> reported Monday.<\/p>\n According to AS<\/em>, Poga\u010dar was placed in a room overlooking the famous Camp Nou soccer stadium. Several teammates checked in with the world No. 1, including Isaac del Toro.<\/p>\n His early release offers some good news following the 27-year-old\u2019s horrific crash. He was forced to abandon the Vuelta while holding a commanding lead on the red jersey.<\/p>\n The complexity of the operation and injuries, however, have raised doubts over whether he will be able to defend his world road title in Montr\u00e9al on September 27.<\/p>\n A doctor with the Slovenian national cycling team poured cold water on the prospect of Poga\u010dar returning in time for the world championships.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s not realistic, even though we would all like it to be. Ultimately, Tadej Poga\u010dar is a human being who has to live in his body for the rest of his life after his career ends,\u201d Kri\u0161tof Knap told Slovenian television.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is important that he suffers no lasting consequences. After all, he still has quite a few years of his career ahead of him, and it is crucial that he completes a full rehabilitation without rushing.\u201d<\/p>\n Speaking earlier this week, team boss Mauro Gianetti said it\u2019s too early to say if the world No. 1 will be in Montr\u00e9al.<\/p>\n \u201cRecovering in time for the world championships doesn\u2019t seem likely,\u201d Gianetti said earlier this week. \u201cWe will see how things progress over the next few days.\u201d<\/p>\n The Slovenian was targeting a third consecutive rainbow jersey that would tie him with Peter Sagan and four others for the all-time record.<\/p>\n His later dates on his calendar \u2014 the European Championships in Ljubljana on October 7 and Il Lombardia three days later \u2014 are also too soon to call.<\/p>\n UAE sports manager Joxean Fern\u00e1ndez Matx\u00edn stressed that a rushed return to racing is not the priority.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is about Tadej the person, not Tadej the cyclist,\u201d Matx\u00edn told Velo<\/em> and other media this week at the Vuelta. \u201cAny decisions about returning to competition will be made in accordance with team doctors.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n [analyse_source url=”https:\/\/velo.outsideonline.com\/news\/tadej-pogacar-heads-home-after-surgery-worlds-rehabilitation\/”]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" [analyse_image type=”featured” src=”https:\/\/velo-cdn.outsideonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/pogacar-hospital.jpg”] Andrew Hood Published September 3, 2026 03:02AM Tadej Poga\u010dar is out a Spanish hospital and is heading home in what\u2019s an encouraging step in his recovery from the devastating crash that ended his Vuelta a Espa\u00f1a. Poga\u010dar\u2019s partner Ur\u0161ka \u017digart shared a photo Wednesday evening before the world champion headed home, two […]<\/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-2126227","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\/2126227","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=2126227"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2126227\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2126227"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2126227"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2126227"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Surgery required pins and plates<\/h2>\n
No pressure from team<\/h2>\n