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🇸🇮 Slovenia /Sports

Pogačar out, Slovenia needs a new captain

From Delo · () Slovenian

Translated from Slovenian and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

News Sources not specified Outcome reported
  • Tadej Pogačar will miss the rest of the 2026 season after breaking his collarbone and seventh cervical vertebra in a crash during the Vuelta a España.
  • Slovenia now needs a new team captain for the World Championships in Montreal and the European Championships on home roads.
  • Pogačar had won 22 of his 45 race days before the crash, making him the peloton's most successful rider this season.

Tadej Pogačar will not return to racing this season after a crash at the Vuelta a España left him with a broken collarbone and a fracture of his seventh cervical vertebra.

The UAE Team Emirates rider remains under medical care at home and is expected to stay there for some time. His early departure ends the 2026 season for the world's leading cyclist, the first time in his career that he has been forced to finish a season prematurely.

His absence leaves Slovenia looking for a new captain. The national team will compete at the World Championships in Montreal and at the European Championships on home roads, but it will do so without the rider who had been its leading figure.

Pogačar's season had been exceptional before the accident. He won 22 races across 45 days of competition, the highest total among riders in the peloton. Meanwhile, Primož Roglič of Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe and Jakob Omrzel of Bahrain Victorious are still competing for top places at the Vuelta.

About this summary

Originally published by Delo in Slovenian. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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