There was the same certainty that the four-time Tour de France winner would win Sunday’s final stage, the only mountain stage of the race and a big one, with more than 4,200 metres of climbing over parts or all of the rugged Col de la Croix, 19.1 km @ 7% from foot to summit. The stage would have little bearing on the outcome of the race as Pogačar’s lead at the start of the day was 4:22.
A breakaway and a gruelling chase
The 11-rider breakaway that had dominated most of the race was down to eight when they hit the final climb, the mysteriously uncategorised bottom half of the Col de la Croix, a bear at 9.6 km @ 8%, especially in temperatures of up to 33°C. Bart Lemmen (Visma–Lease a Bike), Nairo Quintana (Movistar), and Lenny Martinez (Bahrain Victorious) broke away from the break at the foot of the ascent, with Pogačar and the peloton 1:49 away.
It was only a matter of time before the world champion would attack, which he did at 8.5 km from the finish. Shortly thereafter, perhaps because he had been informed of that move, Martinez left his companions of fortune and went climbing on his own. His lead over Pogačar was 1 minute. That was the start of a long and gruelling duel between the best cyclist on the planet and the 22-year-old Frenchman still trying to become a full-fledged Grand Tour rider.
Martinez dug in, but the gap began to slowly shrink: 0:42 with 5 km left to ride, 0:35 at 4 km, 0:17 at 2 km. Though Martinez gave him more work than Pogačar had bargained for, the result was inevitable. He caught the French rider with 870 metres left to ride and won going away. Martinez finished 7 seconds adrift, with Lemmen coming third, at 1:22.
It was Pogačar’s third stage win of the five-stage race and the first Tour de Suisse victory of his career. Another blank in his palmarés was filled in. “It was a super hard day,” he said afterwards. “The parcours was really tough, and with the team we did a super good job. It was getting harder and harder every lap that we did, and in the end, it was an all-out effort.”
Martinez was understandably disappointed after such a huge effort. “We tried, but he was just too strong in the end,” he said. “Tadej wins a lot of races, and he keeps wanting to keep winning, so it’s difficult. I knew he wasn’t going to let me win.”
We all knew, Lenny. Everybody knew.
Cannibalism from the start
It looked right from the start as if Pogačar wanted to make a statement ahead of the Tour de France and win every stage because about 75 km from the finish of Wednesday’s stage 1, he broke out of the peloton with three other riders, ditched them at 72 km, then rode alone the rest of the way for another stunning solo victory. Yes, commentators agreed, the modern “Cannibal” is back, and he wants to send a message to Jonas Vingegaard (Visma–Lease a Bike) after the Dane’s impressive victory in the Giro d’Italia.
“Tadej watched the Giro and saw how good Jonas was,L UAE Team Emirates–XRG manager Mauro Gianetti recently told Cyclingnews. So, of course, the thinking was that he wanted to show his Danish rival that he was better than ever, too. But apparently that wasn’t the case. “This was definitely not the plan,” Pogačar said afterwards. “But somehow it worked, thanks to my teammates. Without them blocking at the back, setting the pace before, this wouldn’t be possible.”
He never really said what the plan had been. Instead, he said, “I didn’t have a radio [at the time of his attack], so I didn’t know what was going on in the back, so I just kept riding hard.”
And that’s how things work out when you’re the best cyclist in the world. The gritty Richard Carapaz (EF Education–EasyPost), the only other rider racing the distance alone, behind the winner, finished second, at 2:14, with Andrea Bagioli (Lidl-Trek) another 15 seconds back, in third place.
On stage 2, Pogačar broke away again, with 8.2 km left to ride, but this time with the apparent intent of setting up teammate Jhonatan Narváez for the stage win. But the three-time Ecuadorian national champion demurred because he had other plans (see below). So instead, Pogačar teamed up with Vacek and recent Giro hero Afonso Eulálio (Bahrain Victorious) to chase down what remained of the 14-rider breakaway that had been in front all day.
But Pogačar had no doubt been informed that his partner, Urška Žigart, crashed heavily in the Tour de Suisse Women earlier in the day and had been hospitalised. So he could be forgiven for not being able to focus on the race, and perhaps that’s why the chase fell short. After the podium ceremony, he rushed to her side to find that she was recovering from a fractured jaw.
In the end, Romain Grégoire (Groupama–FDJ United) easily won the sprint to the line, ahead of the surprising young Spaniard Marcel Camprubí (Pinarello Q36.5), and Lemmen. But they were always aware of who was chasing them.
“We couldn’t do anything,” Grégoire said. “We were just full gas [so] we couldn’t accelerate. We just had to wait and wish that he won’t be able to come back. And finally, it was [close], but we did it.” In the end, Pogačar and Vacek came within 4 seconds of stealing the win.
UAE dominates
Friday’s stage 3 belonged to the aforementioned Narváez, who emerged from a lively skirmish for the breakaway more than 100 km from the finish with Xandro Meurisse (Pinarello Q36.5). The two managed to keep the peloton at bay, aided no small amount by the efforts of the UAE riders to disrupt its chase in the last 5 km. Then he outsprinted his fellow traveller to win his fourth victory since recovering from a horrendous crash in the Tour Down Under in January.
“It was a hard day, especially in the last part, where we had a headwind. But we rode full [gas]. I’m happy,” said Narváez. “We did a mistake yesterday and [Tadej] said, ‘Today two riders from the team are free,’ so I tried to go in the breakaway and I just ride full [gas] with the other guy.”
That was the second UAE victory after three stages. The third victory came on the fourth stage, when (who else?) Pogačar beat Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin– Premier Tech) by a mere 0.031 seconds in Saturday’s 23.7 km ITT. The Dutch rider was visibly shocked and disappointed when the Slovenian’s final time flashed on the TV screen. But the bad news didn’t end there. He was fined 500 CHF (€540) by the race commissaires for “inappropriate attire while on the hot seat” because he had been bare-chested as temperatures soared well over 30°C.
Sometimes you just can’t catch a break.
2026 Tour de Suisse, Stage 5 Results, Villars-sur-Ollon to Villars-sur-Ollon (150.7 km)
- Tadej Pogačar, UAE Team Emirates–XRG 4:12:24
- Lenny Martinez, Bahrain Victorious) +0:07
- Bart Lemmen, Visma–Lease a Bike +1:33
- Jarno Widar, Lotto Intermarché +1:53
- Matthew Riccitello, Decathlon CMA CGM +1:55
- Enric Mas, Movistar “
- Richard Carapaz, EF Education–EasyPost +2:00
- Tobias Foss, Netcompany INEOS +2:05
- Ilan Van Wilder, Soudal Quick-Step +2:07
- Nairo Quintana, Movistar +2:12
2026 Tour de Suisse, Final General Classification
- Tadej Pogačar, UAE Team Emirates–XRG 15:08:43
- Richard Carapaz, EF Education–EasyPost +6:32
- Mathias Vacek, Lidl-Trek +6:53
- Tobias Foss, Netcompany INEOS +7:34
- Ilan Van Wilder, Soudal Quick-Step +7:51
- Brandon McNulty, UAE Team Emirates–XRG +7:53
- Mathew Riccitello, Decathlon CMA CGM +8:48
- Primož Roglič, Red Bull–BORA–Hansgrohe +9:23
- Sergio Higuita, XDS Astana +9:26
- Bart Lemmen, Visma–Lease a Bike +9:44