{"id":969,"date":"2025-07-16T20:51:08","date_gmt":"2025-07-16T20:51:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/969\/"},"modified":"2025-07-16T20:51:08","modified_gmt":"2025-07-16T20:51:08","slug":"tadej-pogacar-gives-frightening-update-after-crash","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/969\/","title":{"rendered":"Tadej Poga\u010dar gives frightening update after crash"},"content":{"rendered":"

Cycling fans held their breath across the world as rainbow jersey Tadej Poga\u010dar crashed in the final kilometres of Stage 11 of the Tour de France<\/a> on Wednesday. As it turns out, Pogi could have been much worse off.<\/p>\n

\u201cI panicked when I saw the curb coming closer\u2014I thought my head was going to smash into it,\u201d he told French outlet RMC Sport <\/a>afterwards. \u201cBut luckily my skin is tough and it stopped me before I hit the curb.\u201d<\/p>\n

The 11th Tour de France stage, following the first rest day, saw frenetic action in its front half, with Mathieu van der Poel crossing swords with Wout van Aert, a breakaway surviving to claim the victory, and Poga\u010dar suffering a hard crash late.<\/p>\n

Jonas Abrahamsen outsprinted breakmate Mauro Schmid in Toulouse for the day\u2019s flowers\u2014his and Uno-X\u2019s first Tour win. Irishman Ben Healy kept his maillot jaune for another day.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m okay. I\u2019m a bit sore, but we made it through, so I\u2019m alright,\u201d he said after.<\/p>\n

1\/2
I am terribly sorry for what happend to @TamauPogi<\/a>. I was trying to follow a move and I can see that I was to close. I tought everyone would move to the right, but I made a mistake and would like to say sorry again. I hope he is as good as he can be after a crash like that.<\/p>\n

\u2014 Tobias Johannessen (@TobiasJohannes1) July 16, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n

In a sportspersonlike gesture, his rivals didn\u2019t push the pace when they heard the defending champion had hit the deck.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a bit of a chaotic day from start to finish, but I want to thank the rest of the group for waiting for me after the crash. The stage was nearly over, but they could\u2019ve taken time from me. Maybe not much, but I definitely would\u2019ve had to dip into my reserves to get back. So I want to thank the guys at the front for their support.\u201d<\/p>\n

As for what caused the crash, Poga\u010dar said they had just come off the descent of the final climb and everyone was going at their limit.<\/p>\n

\u201cMatteo Jorgenson and Jonas Vingegaard attacked and pushed everyone to the limit,\u201d he said. \u201cThen they saw Jhonny Narv\u00e1ez was there, and he did a great job controlling the group.\u201d<\/p>\n

Poga\u010dar explained that in that sort of stage, there were lots of attacks with riders reacting.<\/p>\n

\u201cUnfortunately, a rider followed an attack from left to right. He didn\u2019t see me and clipped my front wheel,\u201d he added. The Norwegian was obviously quite contrite about the crash. He had also apparently been receiving lots of nasty messages, despite it clearly not being his fault. The rainbow jersey took to Twitter on Wednesday to clear the air.<\/p>\n

See you tomorrow \ud83e\udee1 pic.twitter.com\/gDkI7wthQt<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Tim Wellens (@Tim_Wellens) July 16, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n

That rider was Norwegian Tobias Halland Johannessen of Uno-X Mobility, who was trying to follow a move and veered right. It appeared that Poga\u010dar may have been overlapping his wheel and then went down. From the footage, it did not appear that Johannessen was intentionally trying to chop him\u2014despite what some on Cycling Twitter\u2122 claimed.<\/p>\n

Thankfully, it seems the Team UAE Emirates leader is fine and will live to fight another day. The next day of racing is Stage 12, from Auch to the famous Hautacam, covering a total of 180.6 km.<\/p>\n