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Tadej Pogacar leads peloton as hailstorm halts Vuelta stage

2026-08-24 · Tadej Pogacar · Match-Report

Tadej Pogacar leads peloton as hailstorm halts Vuelta stage

Tadej Pogacar pulled over the peloton on Monday when Stage 3 of the Vuelta a Espana was abandoned with just 15km to go due to a torrential hailstorm in the French Pyrenees. The 166.7km route from Guissan to Font Romeu contained the first summit finish, but as the riders scaled the Col de Mont-Louis, the skies darkened and conditions quickly deteriorated.

Soon the peloton was being hammered by huge hailstones that forced riders to seek shelter off road. UAE Team Emirates-XRG rider and race leader Tadej Pogacar was seen indicating to the main group to slow down and eventually pull over. The hail had come down so heavily that it resembled snow on the road, leaving organisers with no choice but to cancel the stage. "For the security of the riders, stage three has been cancelled due to hail and severe weather. There will be no winner and no podium ceremony," said an official announcement.

At the time of its abandonment, the race was led by a lone breakaway rider, Mats Wenzel of Equipo Kern Pharma, with all major general classification (GC) contenders still in the leading group. The cancellation means Pogacar remains nine seconds clear of Wout van Aert (Team Visma-Lease a Bike) at the top of the GC standings.

Pogacar had insisted after Sunday's Stage 2 there was no major preoccupation with retaining the red jersey from beginning to end of the race. The Slovenian is looking to complete a clean-sweep of Grand Tour races, having won the Tour de France five times and the Giro d'Italia once. After edging an ultra narrow victory in the opening day time-trial, he kept hold of the leader's jersey after Stage 2.

"When you have the leader's jersey, you always appreciate it, you go from moment to moment, you wear it with honour," Pogacar said. "But sometimes in a G[round it changes]."

Pogacar extends lead after dramatic Stage 2

Tadej Pogacar settled for third place on Stage 2 of the Vuelta a Espana but increased his overall lead in the general classification. The UAE Team Emirates-XRG rider was beaten in a sprint finish with Grand Tour debutant Matt Brennan (Visma-Lease a Bike) claiming the win ahead of Pau Miquel (Bahrain Victorious) after a thrilling finale into Manosque after a 214km ride from Monaco.

The five-time Tour de France champion keeps hold of the leader's red jersey he claimed after winning the Stage 1 time-trial on Saturday by just nine hundredths of a second. The Slovenian now enjoys a nine-second lead over Wout van Aert, who moved up six spots, with teammate Brennan third in the overall standings a further second back. Sitting in fourth place is Leo Bisiaux (Decathlon CMA CGM), who moved up two spots and is now 12 seconds back, while Finn Fisher-Black (Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe) is now up to fifth, a further two seconds behind.

"We started off with the ambition of trying to get Wout in the red jersey today, and we said there's a nice opportunity to attack in the final, and Wout was really keen to do that," said 21-year-old British rider Brennan.

A winning start in Monaco

Tadej Pogacar dazzled in Monaco by winning the first stage of the 81st Vuelta a Espana on Saturday. Bidding to win the only Grand Tour to elude him, he broke the heart of Ethan Hayter to win the 9.4km individual time trial by 0.09 seconds. Rolling down the start ramp out of Monte Carlo's glitzy casino, the Slovenian tore around the narrow and twisty course and made up time late to snatch the victory.

Britain's Josh Tarling finished emotional third fastest having decided to race eight days after the death of his brother Fin at the Volta a Portugal. For the 27-year-old Pogacar, this was his 36th Grand Tour stage victory, adding to his six Giro d’Italia and 26 Tour de France stage wins. Returning to the Vuelta for the first time since his third-place finish as a Grand Tour rookie in 2019, he tops the general classification after the first day of racing.

"It’s a weird feeling to win the opening time trial by such a small margin," Pogacar said. "I was not expecting it. And this red is a really nice colour. For sure, I think I gained those 0.09 seconds when we passed in front of my apartment, because that was the most technical part of the course. I walk and cycle there every day. Even though it's completely different in a race, knowing these roads super well helped me a lot today."

  • Pogacar holds the red jersey after a chaotic hailstorm cancelled Stage 3.
  • He leads the GC by 9 seconds over Wout van Aert.
  • The Slovenian won the opening time trial by a mere 0.09-second margin.

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