Pogacar Abandons Vuelta With Broken Collarbone, Concussion, and Neck Fracture

Tadej Pogacar crashed with approximately 33 kilometers remaining on stage eight of the Vuelta a Espana on Saturday afternoon, forcing the race leader to abandon the event. Last month he became the joint most successful Tour de France champion of all time. He is a two-time road world champion and has won 13 one-day monument races, including five victories in Il Lombardia, four in Liege-Bastogne-Liege, three in the Tour of Flanders, and one in Milan-San Remo. In 2025, his best finish in Paris-Roubaix was second. Pogacar's withdrawal opens the race for the red jersey. Enric Mas, of Spain, now leads the general classification by one minute 11 seconds from Felix Gall, per BBC Sport. Mas is the first Spaniard to lead the Vuelta since Jesus Herrada in 2018, per BBC Sport's reporting. When presented with the red jersey on the podium, Mas opted not to wear it, instead holding it in front of him. "It's a real shame," Mas said. "I hope he gets better quickly. We've still got a few races left and I hope he'll be in good shape for them." Stage eight victory went to France's Bryan Coquard, 34, in a photo finish, his first Grand Tour stage win. "I think it has been 13 years, it has been a lot of work and I have finished second a lot of times," Coquard said, per BBC Sport. "I have not been in good positions in the first two sprints, I know I have good legs. Maybe I climb better now, I am fast again."