The reigning world road race champion will not be on the start line in Montréal.
UAE Team Emirates-XRG confirmed on 5 September that Tadej Pogačar’s 2026 season is over, closing the door on a late run for a hat-trick of rainbow jerseys after his back-to-back wins in 2024 and 2025.
The 27-year-old Slovenian crashed with roughly 33 kilometres to go on stage 8 of the Vuelta, the 171-kilometre run from Puçol to Xeraco on Saturday 29 August. He had been leading the general classification by 3 minutes and 50 seconds over Spain’s Enric Mas.
Concussion, C7 fracture and Barcelona surgery
Team doctors diagnosed a concussion, a displaced left clavicle fracture, a stable C7 cervical fracture and multiple abrasions. The collarbone operation was delayed to allow monitoring of the concussion and went ahead in Barcelona on Monday 31 August.
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Medical director Adrian Rotunno confirmed the surgery had been successful.
“The procedure went well and he will remain in hospital for post-operative monitoring for a few days,” he said.
Team principal Mauro Gianetti closed the season himself.
“Following his crash, there is absolutely no pressure for Tadej to return to racing this year. His health and recovery are the priority,” he said in a team statement.
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Pogačar’s own line from the same statement was short.
“Of course, this isn’t the way I wanted my season to finish. Right now, the most important thing is to recover properly and give my body the time it needs.”
No Grand Tour sweep, no Lombardia, no Slovenia
The crash also ended his shot at a career Grand Tour sweep. Pogačar had gone into Spain with five Tour de France wins and the 2024 Giro d’Italia on his record; the Vuelta was the missing piece.
He will also miss the European Championships on home roads in Slovenia and Il Lombardia in October, where he had won five straight editions and was chasing a sixth.
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UAE, meanwhile, extended his contract through 2032.
“From the beginning, this team has felt like home to me,” Pogačar said in the announcement.
Belgium and the Netherlands move up the list
Without Pogačar, the hilly Montréal-area circuit around Brossard has no obvious pre-race favourite. Belgium’s squad is built around Remco Evenepoel and Wout van Aert, the latter twice a runner-up in the men’s road race worlds. Mathieu van der Poel of the Netherlands and Mexico’s Isaac Del Toro headline the rest of the shortened list of contenders.
The men’s elite road race starts and finishes at the Quartier DIX30 in Brossard on Sunday 27 September.
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