Pogacar cruises to Tour de Suisse opener with devastating 69km solo

The suspense has been removed from the revamped Tour de Suisse and perhaps from next month’s Tour de France. Tadej Pogačar confirmed that he remains in a league entirely of his own by soloing to an emphatic victory on stage 1 of the Tour de Suisse in Sondrio.

Pogačar came home more than two minutes clear of Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost) after attacking alone with 69km to go, with a plucky Andrea Bagioli (Lidl-Trek) taking third. Astonishingly, the next group of chasers came home more than four minutes down. 

The world champion signalled his intentions by collecting two seconds at the bonus sprint in Pedemonte with 73km to go after a lead-out from UAE Team Emirates-XRG teammate Brandon McNulty. That acceleration created a split in the peloton at the foot of the climb of Triangia, and McNulty opted to press on.

McNulty’s effort brought earlier escapee Fredrik Dversnes (Uno-X Mobility) into range, and Pogačar surged across to the Norwegian with a little under 71km to go. Barely 2km later, Pogačar pressed on alone with a familiar, seated acceleration. Game over.

By the summit of the climb with 65km to go, Pogačar was already a minute clear over a fractured chasing group, where Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost) looked the strongest, but where there was precious little in the way of cohesion.

It’s not clear if it would have made any difference. When the group swelled to 18 riders over the other side, Pogačar continued to build his advantage. Tellingly, the only team with three riders in the second group was his own, with McNulty, Tim Wellens and Jhonatan Narváez on hand to police potential chasers like Matthew Riccitello (Decathlon CMA CGM) and Primoz Roglic (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe).

Carapaz attacked alone from the group with 50km to go and he showcased his form by quickly opening an advantage over his erstwhile companions. The trouble for Carapaz was that Pogacar was out in front showcasing his GOAT credentials all over again.

With 40km to go, Pogacar had 1:55 on Carapaz and 2:50 on the Roglic group, and he pressed on remorselessly on the long, shallow and unclassified climb that followed. The gaps kept on yawning out. With 30km remaining, Carapaz was 2:05 down, with the other podium contenders at 3:45.

Andrea Bagioli (Lidl-Trek) scrambled away from the chasing group on the descent that preceded the ascent of Ponte in Valtellina, which came with 20km to go. By that point, with Pogacar 2:13 clear of Carapaz, 3:20 up on Bagioli and 4:05 ahead of the Roglic group, the result was long since set in stone.

Pogačar being Pogačar, he pushed himself still further on the climb, stretching his advantage on Carapaz out to 2:20 by the top as he cruised towards the foot of the final ascent of Bordighi.

That ascent was the site of one last test effort from Pogačar, who was essentially on a very public training ride. He cruised to the summit in the big ring, despite the double-digit gradients. The race won and the point proved, Pogačar dropped over the other side to claim the first yellow jersey of the Tour de Suisse. It’s impossible to see anyone taking it off him.