Cycling champion, Tadej Pogačar of Slovenia has been slowed down in his preparation for the Tour de France 2024 after a nasty crash in Monaco. According to the media, two-time Tour champion crashed during a descent in the mountains close to his home, injuring his left wrist and shoulder.

The first medical check-ups showed that Pogačar sustained a fracture of the scaphoid bone in his left wrist and some ligament injury to his shoulder. Though the injuries are not deemed to be career ending, they will keep the UAE Team Emirates leader off the bike for at least 4-6 weeks.

The crash is at a time that is not very good for Pogačar as he prepares for the Tour which starts on the 29th of June in Florence Italy. The 25-year-old was in the middle of an altitude training camp in a bid to prepare for what is considered as cycling’s biggest tour. Now, his participation in many important preparatory races such as Critérium du Dauphiné in early June is in question.

Pogačar’s team released a statement confirming the injuries and expressing cautious optimism about his Tour de France prospects “Tadej was unfortunate to crash during a training ride and has sustained some injuries that will mean that he will need some time off and rehabilitation His status for the Tour remains uncertain at this stage, but we expect him to recover in time for the start of the Tour but we will closely monitor him in the coming weeks before making any final determination. ”

The Slovenian has been touted as the clear favorite to regain the yellow jersey in July after coming second to Jonas Vingegaard in each of the preceding two years. His absence or even less of a presence would make a big difference in the overall look of the race.

Other rivals such as Jonas Vingegaard, Primož Roglič, and Remco Evenepoel will surely be observing Pogačar’s condition as they prepare for the same. It is a sad reality to see that in professional cycling, one’s success can turn into a disaster in a blink of an eye, and vice versa.

Thus, the only thing that Pogačar and his team will do for now is to work on his healing and rehabilitation. At the time of writing this article, there are exactly 6 weeks and 2 days remaining until the start of the Grand Départ in Florence, which means that cycling’s new golden boy has a limited amount of time to get back on track. The cycling world will be waiting for more details about his condition in the days and weeks to come.