“Collarbone strong, head strong, heart rate high”: Tadej Pogačar is back on his bike (indoors), over two weeks after season-ending Vuelta crash + more on the live blog
“Collarbone strong, head strong, heart rate high”: Tadej Pogačar is back on his bike (indoors), over two weeks after season-ending Vuelta crash
Guess who’s back, back again?
(Come on, I couldn’t start a story about the best bike racer on earth’s return to the turbo trainer without a reference to his favourite early noughties rapper, could I?)
Tadej Pogačar is back on his bike – or at least the indoor version – this week, just 17 days on from his season-ending crash at the Vuelta a España.
In an Instagram reel posted last night, the five-time Tour de France winner, still sporting a black eye from the crash, can be seen spinning his legs on his home trainer, telling the camera: “First time back. Collarbone strong, head strong, heart rate high. And super happy, let’s go.”
View this post on Instagram
Well, it wouldn’t be a pro cyclist social media post without the phrase ‘super happy’, would it?
To be fair, Pogačar has just cause to be super happy, with his recovery seemingly going to plan after his 2026 – a season shaping up to be one of the greatest of all time – was brought to an abrupt halt with around 31km remaining on stage eight of the Vuelta to Xeraco, when he lost control of his bike after hitting something on the road.
The Slovenian had been leading the Spanish grand tour (the only three-week race he’s yet to win) by almost four minutes when he crashed out, having won three stages during a typically dominant opening week.
Pogačar suffered a stable fracture to his neck, a broken collarbone, and concussion in the nasty spill. Due to the concussion, he was forced to wait two days to undergo surgery on the collarbone, and despite some speculation he could recover in time to perhaps defend his Il Lombardia title, the world champion was forced to pull the pin on his season early.
And while there will be no attempt to win a third straight world title in Montreal next week, the UAE Team Emirates leader is at least fit enough to resume some form of training before the winter properly hits.
Those long, boring hours on the turbo trainer will at least be helped by the presence of his partner Urška Žigart, who is facing her own recovery process after fracturing her jaw (for the second time this year) at the Faun Tour Femmes last week.
“Not quite how we planned to spend September,” Pogačar posted.
“At least we have good company. A big thank you to our teams, families, friends and all of you for the amazing support. We are very grateful.”
Alongside his riveting turbo trainer footage, the Slovenian uploaded an image of his collarbone stitches (delightful), selfies from his hospital bed, and photos of him in a sling and looking battered and bruised while enjoying an ice cream.
He also shared a screenshot of his Whoop recovery stats, which took quite the dip after he faceplanted the road at high speed in Spain:
To be honest, that’s still probably better than my score after a day on the live blog.
Is Lycra really faster than an ill-fitting suit?
It’s Commuting Week here at road.cc and we’ve been spending the first few days answering the really important questions when it comes to cycling to work.
Like… What does our resident YouTuber Liam look like in a suit?
> How much faster is cycling kit? Riding to work in full Lycra vs normal clothes
The answer? Like he’s just stolen his dad’s clothes.
I reckon Liam missed a trick not starting that video with: ‘I am a man, who has recently bought a house in the local area…’
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Re: Brooks B17 Utmost "There’s also a redesigned nose and tension pin at the front" It is unfortunate that Brooks didn't redesign the nose it so that it can be tensioned with just an allen key. The Brooks spanner is just yet another tool to take on tour (or lose) and if the nose rotates then long nosed pliers are needed as well.
@AidanR Even if one takes it slowly enough not to sweat, it's still not a good idea to wear office clothes. Many years ago I taught in a school in Vauxhall that was a mere five kilometres from my home and, tired of the logistics of keeping clean shirts and suits in a cupboard in my classroom, I thought I would ride in my teaching clobber on nice days. After two days two quite expensive suits had to go to the dry cleaners, one with chain oil on the trousers and the other after I came round a corner straight into the outflow from a burst watermain, plus a rather nice shirt had become good for nothing but DIY or gardening after becoming irrevocably stained when I had to replace a dropped chain in a hurry. Lesson learned, ever since then it's been cycling clothes and leave ten minutes earlier to have time to wash and change.
13km each way. Four days a week, lycra top and gilet/jacket depending on temperature. I have full plastic cover (coat, trousers, boot covers) in my pannier bag along with a t-shirt/shirt for work. Long mudguards with extra flaps for wet ground. Those are e-bike days. From November to April, I have handlebar mitts which, along with the mudguard flaps and boot covers are the best additions I've made over the years. Thursday is road bike day, full lycra, take it easy on the way in to minimise sweaty mess, take the long way home.
@lesterama That won't help him much keep that weight, though.
I have almost always cycled in lycra for commuting. However, I have also had a shower and locker room available. When I have been dressed in my work clothes I did get sweaty. As to speed in lycra vs. street clothes, I suggest looking up the show “The World According to Jeff Goldblum”. He brought that question to the Specialized headquarters, where they have a wind tunnel. Street clothes have an almost 20% impact on speed. So you work harder for the same result. Or you just go slower in street clothes.
The actual travel time is only a part of the equation, and it's skewed by what facilities you have in the workplace. I always used to judge it on time for bed to desk - having shower facilities and the ability to store smart clothes and shoes at work meant there was no question about the advantage of wearing cycling kit for the comfort (and not wearing out the crotch of proper trousers).
I did this exact route today as I do once or twice every week - Midford to Bristol and back through tunnels and along cycle paths. Don't see many people in suits... I agree that lycra is not a time saver but as you're going to have to shower on arrival anyway, 100% agree with Liam that you might as well wear comfy clothes that dry fast.
There's no way I'm not sweating on my 20km each way commute across London, so there's no way I'm wearing my office clothes on the bike!
Does it, though? Looks to me like there's a general surge of the peloton from left to right across the road, and that looks far more likely to have been responsible for the crash than 'confusion' over the bottle incident.
My commute is also 9 miles each way, and no matter what I'm wearing, I'm a sweaty mess at the end of it, and need to shower. So I might as well wear cycling kit.