'Just be super aggressive and make him proud'

As the Vuelta a España prepares to continue its journey without its former leader Tadej Pogačar on stage 9, his UAE Team Emirates-XRG teammates have broken their silence for the first time, speaking out about the dynamics of the crash, the climate within the peloton after the incident and their new plans for the rest of the race.

The entire Emirati team had awaited their captain after his disastrous crash 32 km from the finish line of stage 8, eventually crossing the finish line in Xeraco in complete despair, over 11 minutes and 33 seconds behind. Pogačar was forced to withdraw from the Vuelta and was hospitalized for checks.

Now the seven remaining riders—including João Almeida, Pavel Sivakov , and Jay Vine—will have to completely rethink their goals. Stage wins appear to have become the new priority, since none of the seven are well-placed in the general classification: a crucial detail for those managing fantasy cycling teams, as the UAE could become a hotbed of attacks from the back of the peloton in the coming stages.

"After the stage, we were all like this—I think you could see us all crossing the finish line together, really dejected. It wasn't the happiest night, but that's how it goes. That's cycling. It happens—not just to our team, but to everyone," Pavel Sivakov told The Cycling Podcast in Villajoyosa, on the eve of stage 9.

"But now we have to try to focus on the stages. I think we'll have good opportunities. Today is another really tough stage, which suits us well. So we'll keep fighting."

Kevin Vermaerke , who is fighting the Vuelta despite a cracked rib, called the crash "the worst possible scenario" that could happen to the team and Pogačar. But he assured that the "insanely strong team" that UAE has brought to Spain will continue to fight for results.

"We need to fill the void he left, just be super aggressive and try to make him proud."

The American said that throughout stage 8, there was "a strange tension" in the peloton, plagued by crashes from start to finish. It should have been a day of calm racing, but instead it turned into a veritable carnage.

"It's a flat sprint day where only two Burgos riders want to break away. There's no wind, there's nothing, it should be a super calm day," Vermaerke told FloBikes .

"There was a crash right from the neutralized start, then one in the finale, more crashes before Tadej's—it was simply a nervous day on all fronts. That's never nice. No one wants to crash, no one wants to go home on a day that should be easy.

"There are probably a thousand rocks on the road we drive every day. At the end of the day, the roads are closed just an hour or two before. It's impossible to completely clear the road for the 180 kilometers we drive every day. There are so many rocks; I think it's hard to pinpoint one specific one and assign blame, so it was just bad luck."

While Vermaerke was riding ahead of Pogačar when the crash occurred, Sivakov was right behind him and had a clear view of what had happened. He explained that nothing could have been done to prevent the crash.

"In the end, I was on Tadej's wheel when the crash happened. He was drinking from his water bottle and just hit this little object on the road and lost his balance, and yeah, there was nothing we could do for him," Sivakov told The Cycling Podcast.

"I think maybe if he had had both hands on the handlebars it would have been a different crash, because when you lose the handlebars with one hand you're really exposed; you can't really protect yourself.

"I think we were actually in a really good position, you know? We were holding onto one side of the road. I wouldn't say we were in a bad position, or that we were a little further back where it's a little more dangerous because you can't see what's coming."