Results Vuelta a Espana 2026 stage 8 - Tadej Pogacar crashes out; Bryan Coquard takes first Grand Tour win at age 34

Stage 8 of the Vuelta a España was perhaps the calmest day of the race thus far until the final hour of racing. Tadej Pogacar has been forced to withdraw from the race following a crash that left him unable to continue the race; and in the final sprint the stage win was taken by none other than Bryan Coquard who returned from the ashes to take the biggest win of his career.

Sinuhé Fernandéz took the responsibilities over the breakaway on the eighth stage of the race, a day that began with a mass crash still in the neutralized portion of the stage. The Burgos rider was the sole leader throughout most of the day, before getting caught ahead of the day's intermediate sprint.

Wout Van Aert passed it in first place, whilst the fight for positioning was already tense ahead of the day's sole climb. And in the midst of this, a mass crash took place which would affect the stage and the race as a whole.

Tadej Pogacar was involved in the crash, suffering several injuries after hitting his face and shoulder on the ground at high-speed. The race stopped up front - competitively speaking - whilst behind, Pogacar attempted to return to the bike. But the World Champion was not able to, and soon made the decision to withdraw from the race, bloodied and with a suspected collarbone.

Meanwhile up front, the climb was ridden at a moderate pace as the race leader's condition was uncertain. The peloton went over it and a bunch sprint was inevitable. Xabier Mikel Azparren once again attempted and this time around managed to go off the front by himself, but against a fiercely fast bunch sprint behind, the Spaniard held small chances.

Another mass crash took place in the peloton already inside the final kilometer as Wout Van Aert led out the peloton. Matthew Brennan was not in the wheel of the Belgian this time around however, a wasted opportunity for Visma whose leader could not recover position in time to win the stage.

The victory instead fell on the shoulders of Bryan Coquard. The Frenchman beat Mads Pedersen and Jordi Meeus to take the stage win on the day.