After defending his lead in the Tour de Suisse on stage 2, Tadej Pogačar dutifully went through the motions of the podium presentations of his three leaders' jerseys.
But the World Champion did not give interviews as he raced to a nearby hospital to see his partner, Urska Žigart, who was injured in a high-speed crash during the women's Tour de Suisse stage that preceded his.
Speaking to race broadcasters, UAE Team Emirates-XRG manager Mauro Gianetti explained that the incident affected Pogačar's demeanour but not his professionalism.
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"Unfortunately, just before the start, he read the bad news," Gianetti said. "I went to see Urska before the start, so I reassured him that, fortunately, it's nothing serious, even though it was a big crash, because it was at high speed of more than 50 kph. We can reassure him, but you can imagine that it's not easy for him. He didn't seem to be in any mood to race."
The 2026 edition is the first year that the two WorldTour races are taking place on the same days, rather than a week apart as in past years.
Žigart crashed on an uneven road surface just outside of the kilometre to go banner in the women's 105.6km stage, and because the incident came within the final 3km, she was listed in the results as finishing.
However, news came from her AG Insurance-Soudal team that she had suffered a fractured jaw in the fall.
Pogačar was understandably upset by the news, but after winning stage 1 of Tour de Suisse with a 72-kilometre attack, he had the yellow jersey to defend.
"Once the race had started, I went back to the hospital, then called the DSs, who were able to reassure him," Gianetti said.
Pogačar went on to finish just behind the breakaway - Romain Grégoire (Groupama-FDJ United) won the stage - and extend his overall lead.
"He's a professional, we saw that at the end - he still tried to do the best. The breakaway was so far away that it was practically impossible to chase it down, but he tried all the way to the end," Gianeti said.
"Even in the more complicated moments, he's so professional. There are never enough words to thank Tadej.
"Normally, he manages to shut out everything around him, but not his partner. As you can imagine, family is different. He seemed a bit shaken before the start; it was not like normal."
In 2022, Pogačar put family ahead of racing when Žigart's mother died before Liège-Bastogne-Liège, dropping out of that race to stay home with family.
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