The Slovenian puts on a show in Sondrio in the first stage of the Swiss race, the last test towards the Tour de France
Tadej Pogacar again, always Tadej Pogacar. All he does is win the world champion, in 2026 he lost only the Paris-Roubaix to Van Aert, and in the inaugural stage of the Tour of Switzerland, started for the first time from Italy in 89 editions, he confirmed himself with a solo as one of his champions. From Sondrio to Sondrio, 146km with lots of short but explosive climbs, and Pogi moved well ahead of schedule, more than 70km from the finish, and for the rest of the world it was the middle of the night. The 27-year-old Slovenian from Uae closed the parade by giving the audience a high 5 like a rock star, with more than two minutes on his closest pursuers, with Richard Carapaz second and Andrea Bagioli third, the Valtellina from Lidl-Trek who runs at home. For the two-time world champion there are ten successes in the season, 118 as a professional and also the final ranking of the Tour of Switzerland, which continues tomorrow in Locarno and will end on Sunday in Villard-sur-Ollon, seems to be in doubt. The best possible viaticum towards the Tour de France which starts on Saturday 4 July from Barcelona and of which Tadej will be the logical favorite in search of his fifth success. Jonas Vingegaard, fresh from his triumph at the Giro d’Italia, will also be there, but Pogacar can only be the favorite at the start. Also because today he demonstrated once again that he is at another level.