'In a league of his own' - Carapaz resigned to Pogacar's Tour de Suisse dominance

The Ecuadorian placed second on the stage, 2:12 behind the world champion, but more than two minutes clear of podium contenders such as Primož Roglič, Mikel Landa and Matthew Riccitello.

Pogačar’s winning move took shape after he nabbed a pair of bonus seconds at the intermediate sprint with 73km to go. He continued his effort on the following climb of Triangia, pressing clear alone with 69km remaining.

The chasing group behind was a disjointed one, and Carapaz eventually elected to strike out alone with 50km left. By then, he was already more than a minute behind Pogačar, but he pressed on gamely on some rugged terrain to take second ahead of Andrea Bagioli.

“It was a bit of a strange situation after the sprint,” Carapaz told CyclingPro.net. “They pulled away at the front. I tried to keep up, but then nobody at the back was working together. Then there was a moment on the descent where I opened up a small gap and so I decided to carry on.

“To be honest, it was a very long effort, and in the end, I’m really happy with how it felt. I think seeing myself up there once again is important, you know. We know Tadej’s still in a league of his own, but it’s important for me.”

Carapaz had been due to ride the Giro d’Italia, but he was ruled out of the race after undergoing surgery on a perineal cyst following the Volta a Catalunya. He returned to action at the GP Gippingen on Sunday, where he placed third, and he is at the Tour de Suisse to build condition ahead of the Tour de France.

“I knew that I had the legs and I was trying to be up there as much as possible in the race, because it was an important test for me,” said Carapaz. “This result is positive, and I’m very happy with it.”

Carapaz reiterated that there was simply nothing to be done against Pogačar. The EF Education-EasyPost man had to settle for the consolation of being the best of the rest.

“It was an incredible ride,” Carapaz said. “I don’t know how many kilometres it was, but it’s incredible. I was out there trying to do my bit, follow my own path, and, well, I had good sensations.”