'I can do basically do everything normal now' – Tadej Pogačar bounces back from three fractured vertebrae, likely to aim for Classics

Tadej Pogačar has said that he is "happy to be alive or standing" after his serious crash at the Vuelta a España resulted in three broken verterbrae.

The five-time Tour de France winner revealed in an interview with Jacob Whitehead for The Athletic that it wasn't until returning to Slovenia and going to hospital that the full extent of his injuries was revealed. Separately, over the weekend, the former world champion said there was a "big chance" that his season would be structured around the UAE Tour, then the Classics, and then the Tour de France.

Pogačar crashed during stage eight of this year's Vuelta, which left him with multiple serious injuries, including a fractured collarbone, a vertebra injury and concussion.

“There’s actually a funny story,” told The Athletic, in an interview published on Saturday. "Two weeks ago, I was in Slovenia and I went to do another CT scan. I knew I had a C7 fracture, but then we saw I had two more broken vertebrae, the T1 and T2.

"At that moment, I was happy I didn’t do the European Championships, which had been my initial goal. When I saw I had three broken vertebrae? I’m just happy to be alive, actually, or just to be standing."

The 28-year-old has since returned to the bike, after a careful rehabilitation. "I don’t have discomfort anymore," Pogačar said. "I have to be careful not to crash on the bike, or do some heavy lifting with my left arm or with my neck. But I can do basically everything normal now."

However, it was a tough time coming back. "For the first two weeks, I was really mentally not OK," he explained. "I was really down. I was not a fun person to be around. I don’t think Urška [Žigart, his fiancée and fellow pro cyclist] was happy to see me around the house, because I was just, like, depressed. You know, just not feeling anything.

"When I started to get on the home trainer, to go to physio every day, then I started to feel better — also in the head. But it was a day-to-day fight."

In a separate interview, during a virtual community ride on MyWhoosh at the weekend, Pogačar further detailed his plans for 2027, which he had already said would be focused around the Tour, World Championships and Vuelta.

He said: "There's a big chance I come back to Classics for sure, and also UAE Tour, and obviously Tour de France. There's no hiding in this, I think, so we will see."