'Completely changes the script' - How will 'chaotic' battle for La Vuelta 2026 shape up with no Tadej Pogacar?
Updated 30/08/2026 at 13:38 GMT+1
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Tadej Pogacar's abandonment after a heavy crash on Stage 8 of La Vuelta has left the Grand Tour general classification battle wide open, with several contenders set to fight for the title in a fortnight of "unpredictable, chaotic, uncontrollable racing".
Pogacar injury left race 'wide open' and will cause 'unpredictable, chaotic, uncontrollable' drama
Video credit: TNT Sports
Pogacar suffered fractures and a concussion after his crash in the peloton, ending his hopes of a first Vuelta triumph.
The five-time Tour de France winner had led by over three minutes, but the red jersey has now been passed on to Enric Mas (Movistar), who is a minute ahead of Primoz Roglic (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe).
Felix Gall (Decathlon-CMA CGM) is just behind four-time winner Roglic, who was not expected to challenge for a fifth title in Spain.
But he is now very much in contention, with Sepp Kuss (Visma-Lease a Bike), Oscar Onley (Netcompany Ineos) and Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost) a little further back.
TNT Sports experts Adam Blythe and Matt Stephens assessed the state of the race without Pogacar on The Breakaway before Stage 9.
"The impact he has on the race, we forget how big it is," Blythe said. "The green jersey, that's in Wout [Van Aert]'s hands now. The polka dot jersey, Tadej would scoop up points. You don't have to worry about him doing that anymore.
"It's only the white jersey that he doesn't have an effect on, but he does in a way because he might help [Oscar] Onley, or Onley might get away with him if he was still in the race.
"The man just controls so much without realising it and has such a big impact on the race. Now that he's gone, I'm really struggling to understand how this race is going to go.
"A Grand Tour like this has not been around in quite a long time, without Tadej. With the GC being so close, it's completely wide open.
"The past five, six years, in every Grand Tour, we've had a Jonas [Vingegaard], Remco [Evenepoel], or Tadej.
"It completely changes the script for Grand Tour racing to how it was maybe seven, eight years ago. All of us have pretty much forgotten that, so it's going to be new for not just us but the riders as well."
Pogacar's exit will change the approach for UAE Team Emirates-XRG, but Stephens claimed no team will be able to "take control" of the remainder of the race.
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Mas refuses to wear red jersey following injured Pogacar's withdrawal
Video credit: TNT Sports
"The whole psychology of this race has changed," he said. "Every single team, all of the riders, will have gone into this Vuelta bearing in mind that the race is going to be shaped by one person and one team.
"Now that's got to change. Who's going to take the responsibility for the race? Tadej and his team shape the race, dictate terms, which impacts every single classification.
"But now the psychology has got to change, and this is where the managers of teams have got to step up and remind the riders that this is a legitimate opportunity to win a Grand Tour.
"Most of the language coming into the race from teams was 'just fight for a good place or a podium'. The psychology has now shifted."
- 'He didn't even have a chance' - Stephens explains Pogacar crash
- Mas refuses to wear red jersey out of respect for Pogacar - 'Not the way he wants to get it'
- Brennan blasts 'superheroes' in peloton, but was he right to do so?
On who might emerge as the eventual winner, Stephens added: "I can't see beyond the top six. I can't see beyond Carapaz.
"Primoz [Roglic] has won before but is he in the right shape? Has Mas really got what it takes? Does Felix Gall have the mentality to win a Grand Tour? Can Sepp Kuss do it again? He's only two-and-a-half minutes behind. He has a great team around him.
"It's chaos, but that vacuum has to be filled somehow, and I think it's going to be filled with unpredictable, chaotic, uncontrollable racing, and I don't think any singular team can impose themselves."
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