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Tadej Pogačarhas been forced to abandon La Vuelta a España after suffering a heavy crash 33 kilometres from the finish of the eighth stage, held between Puçol and Xeraco in Spain’s Valencian Community, according to local media.
The 27-year-old Slovenian rider was the undisputed leader of the general classification and held an advantage of 3 minutes 50 seconds over Enric Mas. The UAE Team Emirates rider suffered a heavy impact while travelling at high speed at the front of the peloton and quickly showed signs of pain in his shoulder and elbow.
Images taken after the crash showed Pogačar with blood down one side of his face and an open wound above his eyebrow. Doctors had to attend to the race leader, bandage his arm and take him away on a stretcher.
Pogačar tried to get back on his bike but was unable to continue. He was eventually taken straight to an ambulance, accompanied by his sports director, Joxean Fernández ‘Matxín’. The rest of the UAE Team Emirates line-up waited for the Slovenian before resuming the stage.
Pogačar’s withdrawal completely reshapes the Vuelta standings, with Mas as the new leader of the race, which in this edition started in Monaco.