Two-time world champion rides away from competitors with more than 70km to go, soloing into the race lead on stage 1 in Suisse
Wednesday 17 June, 2026
On stage 1 of the Tour de Suisse, Tadej Pogačar produced a remarkable display to take the stage and ride his way into the leader’s jersey. The world champion went alone with 69.3km to go, and would not be caught again before the finish.
As the day lulled behind the breakaway, Pogačar saw his opportunity to attack, and made it count. The UAE Team Emirates-XRG rider clipped off the front of the peloton, and was not to be followed.
Kilometer by kilometer, Pogačar bridged his way across to the breakaway, and after 4km, he was at the front of the race. Then, as the road rose again, the Slovenian attacked off the front and went solo with 69.3km to go. Over an hour later, Pogačar had only extended his lead over those behind, taking a commanding lead in the general classification.
By the finish in Sondrio, the UAE Team Emirates-XRG rider had an advantage of over two minutes to his nearest competitor, Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost), with the third-nearest rider almost two and a half minutes down.
Heading into stage 2, Pogačar holds a gap of two minutes and 22 seconds over Carapaz, with Andrea Bagioli (Lidl-Trek) at 2:39, and anybody else at over four minutes. His lead is commanding, but his ambition will not be tempered. After the finish on Wednesday afternoon, the 27-year-old was happy to reflect on a successful afternoon.
Pogačar: “It was hard, it was really hard. the partcours this time was easy, eevrything was under control and then from the first climb of the day, it was already super hard just to go up. Nils did an amazing pace there, and after the bonus seconds, me abd Brandon really took the challenge and tried something.
“I didn’t have radio there, so I didn’t know what was happening there, so I just kept on riding. Once I knew the gap was big, I could settle into the rhythm and try to hold it to the finish, which was really long and super hard, but also quite technical, so it was quite nice to be alone.
“Somehow it worked, thanks to the teammates I think, blocking in the back, and setting the pace beforehand. Without this, it wouldn’t be possible. We have a strong team, so we can try to go for the stages in the days to come.”
Tour de Suisse 2026 stage 1 results:
- Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) 3:28:51
- Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost) +2:14
- Andrea Bagioli (Lidl-Trek) +2:29
- Brandon McNulty (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) +4:02
- Felix Großschartner (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) +4:05
- Jhonatan Narváez (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) +4:30
Tour de Suisse 2026 general classification after stage 1:
- Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) 3:28:37
- Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost) +2:22
- Andrea Bagioli (Lidl-Trek) +2:39
