Until now, Switzerland had been unexplored territory for Tadej Pogacar outside the national team, with which he won his first rainbow jersey in a country where his presence had been limited to a single race: the 2019 Città di Lugano Grand Prix. In 2026, during the first stage of the Tour de Romandie, the Slovenian raised his arms on Swiss territory for the first time with the colors of the Emirati structure; nevertheless, In his performance, the excessive strength that he often summons did not prevail, rather intelligence did. of a cyclist who dominates all areas of the game. From there, the question did not revolve around knowing if he would win again, which would be strange, but rather predicting how many stages he would achieve.
The second stage, the third day taking into account the prologue, presented a ‘leg-breaking’ terrain from kilometer zero that accumulated almost 3,000 meters of positive slope. On that journey, Pogacardressed in immaculate yellow, took no prisoners, claiming his second consecutive victory and showing that doubting him, no matter how much his performance is a ‘rara avis’, is not conceivable.
Tadej Pogacar, in yellow.EFE
A demanding tour
The first kilometers, marked by a broken and demanding route, allowed the Soderqvist, Conca, Thalmann and Renard-Haquin catch a significant differencekeeping their hopes alive on a day when the breakaway was called to fight for victory. Once in the final circuit, the income, which had reached over 2’00”, gradually fell due to the work of the UAE and INEOS.
The British structure decided to give a livelier pace to a peloton that was lapping 55 seconds behind the leading quartet. Inertia caused that income to progressively decrease until reaching a point of no return. With the breakaway already neutralized, all eyes focused on Pogacar and Godon, who had put their respective formations to work from the opening kilometers.
In the last step of the ascent to Vulliens, The UAE tried to break the schemes to end the chances of a Godon who had the firm conviction of repeating a victory he had already achieved in the prologue. Meanwhile, the breakaway was fractured by Soderqvist who tried to put the favorites in check.
Primoz Roglic imposed a strong pace on the group of favorites, a circumstance that took advantage Jefferson Cepeda to try to dynamite the race. However, Pogacaralways vigilant, reacted immediatelyclosed the gap and neutralized any attempt at surprise. The UAE runner, far from looking for a decisive attack, dedicated himself to controlling the situation, setting the pace and stopping each movement. The final kilometers were frenetic, with continuous changes of pace before the end. Against all odds, in a final agonizing sprint, The Slovenian managed to beat even a sprinter of the stature of Dorian Godon.
