Tadej Pogacar’s bid to complete a clean sweep of cycling’s Grand Tours came to a dramatic end on Friday when the race leader abandoned the Vuelta a Espana after a crash during stage eight.
The Slovenian, 27, came off his bike with about 33km remaining, suffering an injury to his left shoulder and cuts to the left side of his face.
Pogacar initially appeared to try to remount, but soon sat back down before walking unaided into an ambulance.
It was the first time the six-time Grand Tour winner has abandoned one of cycling’s three-week stage races.
The UAE Team Emirates-XRG rider had begun the stage with a commanding lead of 3 minutes 50 seconds over Spain’s Enric Mas and was the overwhelming favourite to claim a first Vuelta title.
Victory would have completed Pogacar’s collection of Grand Tour wins; he had already claimed five Tour de France titles and the Giro d’Italia.
Pogacar, who became the joint-most-successful Tour de France champion last month, was bidding to become only the ninth rider to win all three Grand Tours.
His remarkable palmares also includes 13 victories in cycling’s one-day Monuments, although Paris-Roubaix remains the notable omission after his runner-up finish in 2025.
