This was his 10th Grand Tour start and the first he's ever abandoned. Surgery on a displaced collarbone fracture went well, but the deal on the table — extending beyond the 2031 term originally discussed — was reportedly done before Stage 8 changed anything. That sequencing matters: the crash didn't force a renegotiation or a hedge, it landed on top of a commitment already made. «Of course, this isn't the way I wanted my season to finish… Right now, the most important thing is to recover properly and give my body the time it needs,» Pogačar said — the calm of someone whose contract question was already settled.