Tadej Pogačar didn’t just win the toughest stage of the Tour de Romandie — he also offered a pretty candid explanation for why it felt harder than expected.
After edging clear of Florian Lipowitz on the final climb, the race leader pointed to a different kind of preparation catching up with him.
“The downhill I was really suffering… he gave me a hard time more on the last part than on the climb,” he said, per Cycling Pro Net, as reported by cyclinguptodate.
Still, the result put him in a stronger overall position. “Now it’s a little bit bigger gap, so I’m more comfortable for tomorrow.”
The bigger takeaway came when he addressed his build. “I won’t deny that I’m heavier than usual,” he said. “I got a little bit carried away in the gym…maybe now it’s time to back off a little bit.”
In 2025, amid all sorts (like, all sorts, perhaps looking back, a bit too much) of focus on weight on Pauline Ferrand Prevot, she admitted she too had a similar focus. The French superstar was purposely “heavier’ (and we use this word in quotes as all of these cyclists are indeed very, very lean) for Paris-Roubaix, which she won, and then thinned out for the 2025 Tour de France Femmes. Which she won in a dominant fashion, dropping everyone on the climbs.
Meanwhile, Saturday’s queen stage of the Tour de Romandie played out as expected, with Pogačar taking his third win and tightening his grip on yellow. A strong break featuring Michael Leonard, Primož Roglič and Valentin Paret-Peintre went clear early, but the race came back together on the final Jaunpass. Pogačar attacked near the top, dropping Lipowitz before the crest. Leonard finished 22nd, moving up to 18th overall.
Will the world champ stop doing curls in his build-up to the Tour de France? TBD. There’s several months before the race begins, this year in Barcelona. Next up for the Slovenian is another prep race for the Grand Boucle, the Tour de Suisse. Like Romandie, it’s his first go at the stage race. His boss, former Swiss pro Mauro Gianetti, must love all this racing on home turf!