As the Vuelta a España gears up to continue without former leader Tadej Pogačar on stage 9, his UAE Team Emirates-XRG teammates have spoken for the first time about the circumstances of the crash, the aftermath within the team, and their plans for the rest of the race.
The entire UAE squad waited for their leader when he hit the deck 32km from the end of stage 8, eventually crossing the finish line in Xeraco despondently, 11:33 down with Pogačar out of the Vuelta and on the way to hospital.
Now, the remaining seven riders – including João Almeida, Pavel Sivakov, and Jay Vine – will have to recalibrate their objectives. Stage wins seem to be the new goal, with none of the seven high up in the overall standings.
Latest Videos FromCyclingnews
"After the stage, we were all like – I think you could see us crossing the line all together, really down. It was not the most joyful night, but it's how it is. It's cycling. It happens – not only to our team, to everyone," Pavel Sivakov told The Cycling Podcast in Villajoyosa ahead of stage 9.
"But now we have to try to go for stages. I think we have good opportunities. Also today, it's a really hard stage, so it suits us really well. So we'll just keep fighting."
Kevin Vermaerke, who is battling through the Vuelta with a cracked rib, called the crash "the worst possible scenario" that could've happened for the team and Pogačar. But he said that the "crazy strong team" UAE brought to Spain would keep on fighting for results.
"We have to fill in the shoes he left behind, just be super aggressive and try and make him proud."
The American said there was "a weird tension" in the peloton throughout stage 8, which was beset by crashes from start to finish. It should have been a calm day of racing, but instead there was carnage.
"It's a flat sprint day when only two Burgos riders want to be in the breakaway. There's no wind, no nothing, it should be a super chill day," Vermaerke told FloBikes.
"Already from the neutral there's a crash, even the crash in the final, crashes before Tadej's crash – it was just a nervous day all around. It's never nice. Nobody wants to crash, nobody wants to go home on a day when it should be an easy day.
"There's probably a thousand rocks on the road that we ride through every day. At the end of the day, roads are just being closed an hour or two before. It's impossible to completely make a road clean for the 180km that we do every day. There's a bunch of rocks; I think it's hard to point out one specific one and blame that, so it's just really unlucky."
While Vermaerke was riding ahead of Pogačar at the time of the crash, Sivakov was right behind him and had a clear view of what happened. He said nothing could have been done to avoid the fall.
"In the end, I was on Tadej's wheel when the crash happened. He was drinking his bottle and just hit this small object on the road and lost his balance, and yeah, nothing you could do for him," Sivakov told The Cycling Podcast.
"I think maybe if you had two hands on the handlebars, it would have been a different crash, because when you lose the bars with one hand, you're really exposed; you cannot really protect yourself.
"I think we were actually in a really good position, you know? We were taking a side of the road. I wouldn't say we were in a bad position, or we were a bit further back where it's a bit more dangerous where you cannot see what's coming up."
For unbeatable coverage across road, gravel and tech, subscribe to Cyclingnews. You'll get comprehensive race coverage of La Vuelta a España, subscriber-exclusive analysis from our expert columnists, in-depth features and industry-leading tech insight. Plus, the Cyclingnews app lets you follow the action wherever you go! Join today.
