Race leader Tadej Pogacar pulls out of Spanish Vuelta after crashing during Stage 8

XERACO, Spain — Five-time Tour de France champion and overwhelming favorite Tadej Pogacar pulled out of the Spanish Vuelta after crashing during the eighth stage of the race on Saturday.

The Slovenian held a big lead in the race but got caught in a crash about 33 kilometers (20.5 miles) from the finish. He tried to get back on his bike but could not carry on and walked to an ambulance. Race organizers confirmed he pulled out of the race.

The UAE Team Emirates leader was trying to become the ninth male rider to win all three Grand Tour races. Pogacar won the Tour de France for a third straight time and a record-tying fifth overall in July, and he claimed the Giro d'Italia win in 2024. He had not raced in the Vuelta since making his Grand Tour debut at the event in 2019.

TV footage showed Pogacar with cuts on his head as well as his left arm and shoulder. Pogacar swerved to his right, into other cyclists, as he appeared to try to avoid something in the road. The Tour de France champion lost control and flew over his handlebars, hitting his head and shoulder.

UAE Team Emirates sports manager Matxin Joxean Fernandez said after the stage that Pogacar had needed stitches in his eyebrow and elsewhere.

"It's no one's responsibility. ... It's simply one of those things that happens in cycling, unfortunately," Fernandez said. "He initially wanted to keep going, but we saw he was in a lot of pain in his shoulder and decided he couldn't continue. There isn't much else to say.

"After seven days Tadej was happy and it's a very big shame for him, cycling is about good and bad and (we hope) Tadej recovers as soon as possible because hopefully it's not something too bad, we're not going to think about that right now but we'll see what the doctor says."

Pogacar — who had led since winning the opening stage — had an advantage of 3 minutes, 50 minutes over Enric Mas of Movistar before Saturday's stage, which did not feature any major difficulty and offered sprinters a chance to shine along a flat 171-kilometer (106-mile) route from Puçol to Xeraco. Bryan Coquard, from the Cofidis team, claimed the stage win ahead of Mads Pedersen and Jordi Meeus.

Mas took the race leader's jersey from Pogacar, becoming the first Spanish rider to lead the race since Jesus Herrada in 2018. Felix Gall stood second overall, 1:11 off the pace, with Primoz Roglic in third place.

The 31-year-old Mas did not put on the leader's red jersey when he was presented with it in the post-race ceremony, instead just holding it up. He was also not wearing it in television interviews after the stage.

"To get the red jersey thanks to a crash, it's not a good feeling," he told Eurosport in translated comments. "We'll try to defend it tomorrow but tonight we need to assimilate what happened and give Tadej all our support and hopefully he will recover soon. We decided with the team that I was not going to wear the red jersey (today) and then if I deserve it tomorrow, I will wear it."

Pogacar's main rival, Jonas Vingegaard, is not competing in the Vuelta after crashing during this year's Tour de France.

This was Pocagar's 10th Grand Tour and the first he has ever abandoned. He had never finished lower than third place.

The three-week race concludes in Granada on Sept. 13.

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