This is Pogačar's first-ever Grand Tour DNF and his first abandonment in any race since Liège-Bastogne-Liège in 2023 — nearly three years without a forced withdrawal. It happened on a straightforward transitional stage, not a mountain pass, after he swerved into another rider mid-peloton and suffered cuts to his shoulder and face. Mas inherits the lead having gained nothing himself; the battle for overall victory is now genuinely contested rather than settled by a three-stage-winning margin.