Oscar Onley recalls scary Pogacar crash: ‘There was bodies everywhere’

While Bryan Coquard celebrated a long awaited first Grand Tour stage victory after edging Mads Pedersen in the sprint, the result was overshadowed by Pogačar’s abandonment following a heavy crash with 32 kilometres remaining.

Onley was among the riders caught up in the incident and escaped without serious injury.

“I came down in the crash with Pogačar. I was really lucky actually,” Onley said after the finish in the flash interview. “Hopefully, Tadej is okay, because we were going really fast and it was quite scary. I came off pretty well.”

The Netcompany-Ineos rider was positioned behind UAE Team Emirates-XRG and Visma | Lease a Bike when the crash unfolded, but could offer little explanation for what had caused it.

“I have no idea what happened. We were sitting behind UAE and Visma, and suddenly there was bodies everywhere. You just brake and start to stay upright.”

Pogačar remained on the ground as medical staff attended to him. He initially managed to get back to his feet, but soon sat down again as doctors continued their assessment. With several visible wounds, the Slovenian was eventually helped into an ambulance and taken to hospital, bringing his Vuelta to an abrupt end while wearing the red jersey.

The incident was the most consequential of several crashes on a day that had appeared destined to offer the general classification riders a relatively straightforward passage towards the expected sprint in Xeraco.

For Onley, the contrast between the relatively gentle racing for much of the day and the nervous finale only made the number of incidents harder to understand.

“It was really chaotic today,” he said. “When it’s an easy day, I guess everyone is sleeping. In the final, everyone is fresh and everyone is keen for a proper sprint finish.

“Obviously, all crashes are unnecessary, but it seemed like there was no real point to stress today.”

Pogačar’s exit handed the red jersey to Enric Mas, with Primož Roglič moving into second overall. Onley is now fifth in the general classification, 2:16 behind Mas, while also retaining the white jersey as the race’s best young rider.

Onley expects Pogačar’s absence to alter the dynamics of the Vuelta, even if his own approach remains unchanged.

“I think it’s gonna be a quite different race now. It’s gonna be quite a lot more open,” he said.

“My goals don’t change and the people I’m racing against don’t change either. For me, nothing really changes. But maybe for stage wins, for breakaways and stuff, they get bigger opportunities now.”