UAE Team Emirates-XRG rider sprints to fourth place on stage 3, negating any attacks on his leader’s jersey heading into the final two days
May 1, 2026
After winning two stages on the bounce at the Tour de Romandie, Tadej Pogačar was forced to settle for fourth place on stage 3. Raced to and from Orbe in Switzerland, the fourth day of racing saw the honours contested in a 34-man reduced bunch sprint, won by Dorian Godon of Ineos Grenadiers.
Finishing strongly, Pogačar powered his way to fourth place at the finish, retaining his race lead of 17 seconds over Florian Lipowitz of Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe. In third place overall lies Lenny Martinez (Bahrain Victorious), who sits 26 seconds back on Pogačar with two days of racing to go.
On stage 3, UAE Team Emirates-XRG kept a controlled pace in the peloton through the fine work of Vegard Stake Laengen and Ivo Oliveira, before Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe decided to keep the breakaway on a tight leash over the final climb. Their ambition was to sprint for the stage victory through Finn Fisher-Black, who ultimately came across the line in second.
With Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe, Lidl-Trek and Ineos Grenadiers all determined to squash the break’s aspirations, the race came together inside the final 10km. As Felix Großschartner guided Pogačar into position, it was Godon who timed his sprint best to take the win.
With fourth place across the line, Pogačar handily retained his race lead and can now look forward to the weekend, where he will hope to win his first Tour de Romandie on debut.
Pogačar: “We kept it under control until the climb, we wanted to pace ourselves over the climb, but one team had other ideas, which is good for us as well, to go all out on the climb. Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe pushed really good on the climb, and the small group stayed, with them catching the breakaway. In the end, Lidl-Trek and Ineos gave a really good chase and it was also a strong breakaway, but a good day for us.
“We have two hard stages coming up, so we were saving the legs a little for tomorrow and the day after. In the sprint, when Godon kicks with the heavy gear, he is long gone. It was not like yesterday, he waited for the final and it was not a great speed, so he could make a big difference compared to me. I still did a pretty solid sprint, and a nice finish.”
Tour de Romandie 2026 stage 3 results:
- Dorian Godon (Ineos Grenadiers) 3:58:18
- Finn Fisher-Black (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe) st.
- Valentin Paret-Peintre (Soudal Quick-Step) ”
- Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) “
Tour de Romandie 2026 general classification after stage 3:
- Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) 12:06:46
- Florian Lipowitz (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe) +17″
- Lenny Martinez (Bahrain Victorious) +26″
