Tadej Pogacar is out of hospital following his race-ending crash at the Vuelta a Espana, but his chances of being fit for this month's World Championships have been described as “not realistic”.
The UAE Team Emirates-XRG rider underwent surgery on his broken collarbone on Monday following his crash during Saturday's Stage 8, which also left him with a concussion and various cuts and bruises.
The Emirati team hailed the surgery as “successful” adding that Pogacar would be monitored in the university hospital of Dexeus in Barcelona for "a few days” before heading home to Monaco.
Pogacar's partner, Urska Zigart, has since posted images on Instagram of the Slovenian outside, with his left arm in a sling, alongside friend and team masseur Ziga Jerman.
And while his exit from the hospital is clearly a positive move, there is still a way to go in his recovery process, with no official announcement yet about plans for the rest of the season.
Pogacar had planned to go for a third successive Road World Championships crown with the elite men's race set for September 27 in Montreal.
The European Championships on October 4 and his usual season-closing race at Il Lombardia – which he has won five times – six days later were also on the schedule. But Slovenian national team doctor Kristof Knap is far from confident that Pogacar will be fit to race so soon.
“It's not realistic, even though we all would like it,” Klapp said to Slovenia TV channel RTVSlo. “In the end, Tadej Pogacar is also a man who has to live the rest of his life in his own body after the end of his career. It's good that he won't continue to suffer any consequences.
“After all, he still has a few years of his career ahead of him and it's important that he completes full rehabilitation without rushing.”
Pogacar's countryman and teammate Domen Nova also suggested making the race in Montreal would be problematic. “I also think it will be difficult to be fit for the World Championships,” he told Sporza. “But Tadej is a hard worker. He never gives up and he is trying to recover quickly.”
UAE Team Emirates-XRG bosses have not ruled their star rider out of any race yet but have made it clear that Pogacar's health comes first.
“To be completely honest and from the bottom of my heart: the schedule doesn’t matter to me right now,” sports manager Matxin Joxean Fernandez told Eurosport after Pogacar's surgery.
“It’s the person that counts. It’s about Tadej; we have to be there for Tadej. And whatever’s meant to happen will happen. If he needs a rest period, then that’s completely justified. He’s earned it.
“I think we need to give him all that respect and trust. On a personal level – it’s not about cycling right now, but about him as a person. We just want him to have some peace and quiet, recover, and be with his family.”
Pogacar had been a runaway leader at La Vuelta enjoying a near four minute advantage over second placed Enric Mas (Movistar Team) after winning three stages.
If the 27-year-old had gone on to seal the general classification victory in Spain he would have become only the ninth rider to win all three Grand Tours having triumphed in the Tour de France five times and the Giro d'Italia once.
