Pogacar in a Class of His Own – Solo Breakaway to the Yellow Jersey

Pogacar, a two-time world champion and four-time Tour de France winner, found himself alone on the open road early on in his first appearance at the Tour de Suisse. The fact that it turned out to be a “really tough day” was mainly due to him and his teammates, who set a blistering pace right from the first climb of the day.

Pogacar wanted to secure the bonus seconds at an intermediate sprint. “After that, we looked at each other and decided to try something,” the Slovenian said in a TV interview. Together with Brandon McNulty, he pushed hard on the following climb. Behind him, the peloton—barely halfway through the 144-km stage—broke up into many small groups.

A Decisive Moment in the Battle for the Overall Victory

Less than two kilometers after picking up the pace, however, Pogacar was already completely on his own. “I didn’t have radio contact during that phase, so I just kept going. When I heard how big the lead was, I was able to find my rhythm and push through. But the way it played out, it definitely wasn’t according to plan.”

From then on, the question was no longer whether he would take the stage win and the Maillot jaune, but simply by how much the 27-year-old Slovenian would finish the opening stage ahead. That lead stood at 2:14 minutes at the finish, though it was clear that Pogacar wasn’t riding at his limit during the final half-hour.

A few seconds behind the second-place finisher, Ecuadorian Carapaz, Italian Andrea Bagioli took third—but the battle for the overall victory appears to have been decided on the very first of five days. All other riders have already fallen more than four minutes behind the standout Pogacar. The top Swiss rider was Marc Hirschi in 24th place, about five and a half minutes behind.

Will Pogacar put on another show right away?

Stage 2, starting and finishing in Locarno, covers 157.7 km and is, on paper, slightly less difficult than the first stage in Sondrio. The outcome on Thursday will likely be decided in the final 20 km on the two very short but steep climbs. After his solo show at the start of the Tour, there can only be one favorite: Tadej Pogacar. But perhaps the Slovenian will decide to launch one of his strong teammates instead.