Tour de France champion Tadej Pogacar suffered a displaced fracture of his left collarbone and a stable fracture of his seventh cervical vertebra in his serious crash on the eighth stage of the Vuelta. This was announced by his UAE team doctor, Adrian Rotunno, following an examination at hospital. The world champion also sustained a concussion and numerous grazes.
“He will need an operation on his collarbone. However, this procedure will be postponed for the time being due to the precautions required following a concussion,” said Rotunno.
The season went well
This is likely to spell the end of the season for Pogacar. A broken collarbone is expected to keep him out of action for at least six weeks. The World Championships road race will take place in Montreal on 27 September.
Pogacar had taken a head-first tumble a good 32 kilometres from the finish in Xeraco and was subsequently taken away in an ambulance. Until then, the 27-year-old had been well on his way to winning the Vuelta for the first time. Having secured three stage victories, he was already 3 minutes and 50 seconds ahead of the Spaniard Enric Mas in the overall standings going into the eighth stage.
The Tour of Spain is the only Grand Tour still missing from Pogacar’s list of victories. At the end of July, he won the Tour for the fifth time, and he also won the Giro d’Italia in 2024.
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