Shock at the Vuelta a España: during stage 8, a transition stage mostly flat in Valencia, with only a second category climb, has ended with the fall and retirement of race leader Tadej Pogačar, who fell with 33 km before the finish line, and was taken in ambulance, heavily bruised and cut in the face and shoulder and seemingly with a broken collarbone.
The fall, completely accidental, was seemingly caused because he hit a stone on the road and lost control of his bike. The fall caused him bruises and cuts and a fracature that caused him a lot of pain; he tried to go back to the bike but couldn't, and was taken to the hospital.
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Pogacar, winner of Tour de France 2026, had been leader of La Vuelta since the start, setting the pace. Before the race, he had a lead of 3:50 minutes over Enric Mas from Movistar and 4:50 Primoz Roglic from Red Bull Bora Hansgrohe, and showed no signs of slowing down. Depending on the severity of his injuries, he may miss the upcoming UCI World Cup in September.
When the stage ended, won by Bryan Coquard from Team Cofidis, Mas became the new leader, 1 minute 11 seconds ahead of Felix Gall from Decathlon CMA CGM and Roglic. Sepp Kuss from Visma, Oscar Onley from Ineos and Richard Carapaz from EF Education Easypost are also within 2:15 and 2:22 minutes from Mas, completely opening the race for the next two weeks.