Urska Zigart joins Pogacar on sidelines as second jaw fracture likely ends 2026 season

AG Insurance-Soudal confirmed on Sunday that further examinations following Žigart’s crash on stage 3 had revealed a new jaw fracture. It is the second time this season that the Slovenian has suffered the injury.

“Given the nature of the injury and the fact that it concerns a repeated fracture, Urška’s 2026 season is likely to come to an early end,” the team said.

A final decision has yet to be made, with the team set to monitor Žigart’s recovery, but her participation at the upcoming World Championships now appears to be ruled out.

It is a cruel setback for Žigart, who had returned to strong form after an already difficult season and had been preparing to target both the World Championships in Canada and the European Championships on home roads in Slovenia.

After two stages of the Tour de l’Ardèche, she sat third overall behind Niamh Fisher-Black and Juliette Berthet and had spoken positively about her condition ahead of the decisive days of the race.

“I feel good, my form is solid,” Žigart told DirectVelo earlier this week. “I took a bit of a break after the Tour and am now in the final phase of preparation for the World and European Championships. I feel ready.”

Those plans have now been thrown into doubt by another crash just under three months after Žigart fractured her jaw at the Tour de Suisse Women.

On that occasion, the 29-year-old went down shortly before the final kilometre of stage 2 as a chasing group entered Locarno. Riding near the front, Žigart lost control after hitting a traffic calming feature in the road and brought several other riders down with her.

Despite the severity of the crash, surgery was not required and Žigart returned to racing remarkably quickly. Just six weeks later, she lined up at the Tour de France Femmes, where she went on to finish 48th overall.

Her latest injury also means both Žigart and fiancé Tadej Pogačar are now expected to see their seasons end prematurely because of crashes.

Pogačar has not raced since his dramatic exit from the Vuelta a España on stage 8 on August 29. The world champion hit a large rock at the side of the road with 32 kilometres remaining and suffered a concussion, a displaced fracture of his left collarbone and a stable C7 cervical fracture.

He had won three stages and was leading the Vuelta by 3:50 over Enric Mas at the time of the crash, which ended his bid to complete his collection of Grand Tour victories.

Pogačar had been expected to travel to Montréal despite being unable to defend his world title, with Slovenia coach Uroš Murn saying the 27-year-old planned to support the national team and Žigart in particular.

Žigart had also spoken about that prospect only days before her own crash.

“Right now, he’s fully focused on recovering from his injuries. But maybe he’ll come to Canada to support me at the World Championships, or why not race himself,” she joked.

“Crashes happen. You have to adapt and bounce back, and I’m sure he’ll come back stronger next year.”

Those words have taken on a different meaning just days later. With her own season now likely over, Žigart faces another recovery from a serious crash and will need some of that same resilience herself.