'I'm just happy to be alive' – Pogacar reveals full extent of Vuelta crash injuries

The Slovenian was initially diagnosed with a broken collarbone, a concussion and a C7 vertebral fracture when he crashed out of the Vuelta a España on stage 8 to Xeraco.

Pogačar underwent surgery on his collarbone in Barcelona two days later, with his UAE Team Emirates-XRG squad indicating shortly afterwards that he would not race again in 2026.

The injuries ruled Pogačar out of the defence of his world title in Montreal, but after returning to his bike in late September, he began to assess the idea of making a dramatic comeback for the European Championships on home roads in Slovenia.

After consultation with UAE’s medical staff, Pogačar decided against racing the European Championships. In an interview with The Athleticpublished on Saturday, Pogačar acknowledged that it was the right decision.

“There’s actually a funny story,” Pogačar said. “Two weeks ago, I was in Slovenia and I went to do another CT scan. I knew I had a C7 fracture, but then we saw I had two more broken vertebrae, the T1 and T2.

“At that moment, I was happy I didn’t do the European Championships, which had been my initial goal. When I saw I had three broken vertebrae? I’m just happy to be alive, actually, or just to be standing.”

Following the crash, Pogačar’s initial focus was on his broken collarbone, with the C7 fracture almost a secondary consideration given that it was not causing him significant pain. 

“But if I crash again on the bike now, it can be very problematic,” he said. “Everybody says that I was lucky, and you’re always lucky after a crash where you can walk away and you’re fine. But the more you talk with people, the more you find out about the seriousness of the injury. You have the internet and you google it. You see it’s pretty serious and not to joke around. It’s a bit scary, to be honest, to think about it.”

Pogačar has since resumed training, and his thoughts are already turning to the 2027 season. Although he is still mindful of his injuries, he confirmed that it doesn’t have an impact on his training. 

“I don’t have discomfort anymore,” Pogačar said. “I have to be careful not to crash on the bike, or do some heavy lifting with my left arm or with my neck. But I can do basically everything normal now.”

Pogačar also revisited the will-he, won’t-he saga that surrounded his participation in the European Championships. He confirmed that his desire to race was real, but he ultimately followed medical advice following a further assessment on his collarbone. In any case, he suggested that his very attempt to return in time for the event had benefited his recovery from injury with a view to 2027.

“I was speaking to the team, speaking about whether it would be possible for me to ride the Europeans if everything went well and if I was in shape,” he said.

“It was giving me motivation, and then we did another X-ray of the [bone] carbon. It hadn’t healed a lot in three weeks, and I could sense they were not happy to send me racing, so the motivation dropped a little bit.”

Speaking during a virtual community ride on MyWhoosh this weekend, Pogačar indicated that he was likely to return to the UAE Tour in 2027, while the Classics and the Tour de France would again be key components of his calendar, though a final decision on his programme will not be made until December.

“There’s a big chance I come back to Classics for sure, and also UAE Tour, and obviously Tour de France,” he said. “There’s no hiding in this, I think, so we will see.”