"Today there was a crash just in front of me" - Tadej Pogacar narrowly avoids disaster in sprint finish of stage 11 at Giro d'Italia

Another day successfully navigated without incident on stage 11 of the 2024 Giro d'Italia has seen Tadej Pogacar take another day closer to the seemingly inevitable Maglia Rosa triumph.

"Today there was a crash just in front of me," Pogacar says in his post-stage interview, detailing how close he came to disaster when Fabio Jakobsen was denied a sprint chance in the last few hundred metres. "But I always race like this, in the bubble. I always check what's going on, not directly on the wheels and not touching anybody. It (a crash) can happen in the back or in the front so it's a bit tricky so I try not to make mistakes."

With the UAE Team Emirates lineup for the Giro d'Italia also including a sprinter in Juan Sebastian Molano, Pogacar has previously been seen front and centre of the leadout in the finale of stages, as was the case again on stage 11. "I knew that with a headwind it's a bit more difficult for me to help," he admits however. "I tried just to cover them a little bit until the final two or three kilometres but then I didn't have the legs."

One of the Slovenian's domestiques, Felix Grossschartner did crash on the stage though, but thankfully all seems well for the Austrian. "I haven't seen him yet but apparently he is okay so let's see," Pogacar assesses.