Too early to think of the Tour de France - UAE recollect themselves following Tadej Pogacar's "complicated operation"

Tadej Pogacar is a rider that crashes little often, and abandons races even less frequently. His last abandon had been at the 2021 Giro dell'Emilia, but yesterday at Liège-Bastogne-Liège he was ultimately the victim of a crash that left him unable to continue.

“That’s something that happens in cycling, unfortunately, and this time we were unlucky," team DS Mauro Gianetti told Cyclingnews during the hours previous and following Pogacar's eventual operation. Mikkel Honoré of EF Education-EasyPost reportedly had tires exploding, which caused the situation. "Exploded, and that’s what caused the crash, and he was involved," the team manager explained.

The UAE Team Emirates broke his left schaphoid and lunate bones. A difficult injury which should keep him out of competition from five to six weeks. "As it’s multiple bones to fix, it’s a more complicated operation. So we’re crossing our fingers it will all be ok, and he’ll be able to recover very fast."

The surgery eventually was successful and today the Slovenian is travelling back home. Although it was a crash in one of his biggest goals of the spring, by no means has it led to a big disappointment. Pogacar has won Paris-Nice, Tour of Flanders, Amstel Gold Race and Flèche Wallone for the first time, among other wins that made him the most successful rider of the spring. With the Tour de France under eye, he was already expected to take time off the bike now before beginning his preparation. He could be able to resume competition at the Tour of Slovenia where he is initially planned to race.