'This was definitely not the plan' – Tadej Pogačar sends Tour de France warning with 70km stage-winning attack at Tour de Suisse
World champion wins opening stage and leads by more than two minutes
Tadej Pogačar made a 70km solo attack look like a coffee ride on Wednesday, when he sailed to victory on stage one of the Tour de Suisse.
The world champion peeled off the front of the peloton on an uncategorised climb, set up by his UAE Team Emirates-XRG team-mate Brandon McNulty, with 71.7km to go. He then stretched out his advantage to more than two minutes to claim the leader’s jersey and his tenth win of the season.
Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost) finished second, Andrea Bagioli (Lidl-Trek) third.
"This was definitely not the plan, but somehow it worked, thanks to my team-mates, I think," Pogačar said afterwards. "Without them blocking at the back, setting the pace before, this wouldn’t be possible.”
At points, Pogačar seemed almost confused by how effortlessly he drew the gap out. He checked regularly over his shoulder, perhaps expecting to see a group in pursuit, but all he saw was open road.
"I didn’t have a radio [at the time of the attack], so I didn’t know what was going on in the back, so I just kept riding hard," he said.
"Once I knew the gap was quite big, I could settle into the rhythm and try to hold it to the finish, which was super long and really hard, but was also, at the same time, quite technical, so it was really nice to be alone.”
The victory, and the seemingly offhand nature of it, sent a warning message to Pogačar’s rivals at next month's Tour de France: this is a rider who can win at will, and with ease. He has now collected 10 victories in just 12 race days this season, the lion’s share coming at May’s Tour de Romandie, his last race, where he won four stages and the general classification.
This year’s Tour de Suisse has been reduced from eight stages to five, bringing it in line with the women’s race, which is taking place concurrently. Visma-Lease a Bike’s Femke de Vries won stage one on Wednesday morning.
The opening stage of the men’s race took place entirely in northern Italy, on a thin loop tracing the Adda river, starting and finishing in Sondrio.
Uno-X’s Fredrik Dversnes began the day with a solo jaunt. That ended when the Norwegian was tagged and passed by Pogačar, who rode away comfortably, like Gozilla destroying a city, then wondering where all the rubble came from.
It would take another 20km before a rider dared to chase the world champion. Carapaz, whether he believed he could catch him or not, sprung out of the chase group, where Pogačar's lieutenants Felix Großschartner, Jhonatan Narváez, and McNulty patrolled the pack.
The Ecuadorian went on to earn second place for his effort, but not without the fright of Bagioli behind him, who finished just 15 seconds adrift. The rest of the GC favourites, including Primož Roglič (Red-Bull-Bora-hansgrohe) and Matthew Riccitello (Decathlon CMA CGM), all lost more than four minutes to Pogačar.
Thursday's second stage of the Tour de Suisse will see the race return to Switzerland, on an undulating route out of and back into Locarno.
Asked for his plan for the day, Pogačar said: “Stay safe and keep the jersey. We have a strong team, so we can try and go for the stage with Jonny, Brandon, Felix or anybody else. We’ll see how the guys feel.”
Results
Tour de Suisse 2026, stage one: Sondrio > Sondrio (144km)
1. Tadej Pogačar (Slo) UAE Team Emirates-XRG, in 3:28:51
2. Richard Carapaz (Ecu) EF Education-EasyPost, +2:14
3. Andrea Bagioli (Ita) Lidl-Trek, +2:29
4. Ilan Van Wilder (Bel) Soudal Quick-Step, +4:02
5. Mathias Vacek (Cze) Lidl-Trek
6. Brandon McNulty (USA) UAE Team Emirates-XRG
7. Wilco Kelderman (Ned) Visma-Lease a Bike, all at same time
8. Felix Großschartner (Aut) UAE Team Emirates-XRG, +4:05
9. AJ August (Netcompany-Ineos), +4:30
10. Jhonatan Narváez (Ecu) UAE Team Emirates-XRG, at same time
General classification after stage one
1. Tadej Pogačar (Slo) UAE Team Emirates-XRG, in 3:28:51
2. Richard Carapaz (Ecu) EF Education-EasyPost, +2:22
3. Andrea Bagioli (Ita) Lidl-Trek, +2:39
4. Ilan Van Wilder (Bel) Soudal Quick-Step, +4:16
5. Mathias Vacek (Cze) Lidl-Trek
6. Brandon McNulty (USA) UAE Team Emirates-XRG
7. Wilco Kelderman (Ned) Visma-Lease a Bike, all at same time
8. Felix Großschartner (Aut) UAE Team Emirates-XRG, +4:18
9. Matthew Riccitello (USA) Decathlon CMA CGM, +4:43
10. AJ August (Netcompany-Ineos), +4:44
