Not his most Pogačar-esque performance, but the world champion still wins stage 1 in Romandie with a powerful sprint

Tadej Pogačar has won stage one of the Tour de Romandie. The Slovenian backed up his top favourite status with the stage win and the leader's jersey, but proved less than invincible on the brutal final climb. Jørgen Nordhagen (Visma | Lease a Bike), Florian Lipowitz (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe) and Lenny Martinez (Bahrain Victorious) all stayed with him — but none could match him in the sprint.

After Tuesday's prologue — which Dorian Godon (INEOS Grenadiers) won comfortably, keeping top favourite Pogačar at bay — Wednesday brought the first road stage. The world champion would not have to wait long for a chance to respond.

The opening stage was a tricky one. Around Martigny, the terrain was almost entirely flat, with the short climb of La Rasse as the only obstacle on a repeated local circuit. But further on, the ascent to Ovronnaz promised real differences. The question was whether it would be enough to allow Pogačar to attack — with 34 kilometres still to go after the summit.

A seven-man breakaway coloured the day, with Sam Oomen (Lidl-Trek) as the Dutch representative. He was joined by Pietro Mattio (Visma | Lease a Bike), Patrick Gamper (Jayco AlUla), Louis Vervaeke (Soudal Quick-Step), Roland Thalmann (Tudor), and the Picnic PostNL duo of Alexey Faure Prost and Dillon Corkery. A strong group that built a lead of around three and a half minutes.

Thalmann had clearly targeted the mountains jersey, winning all three sprints on La Rasse. Corkery was dropped from the break, leaving five. But the peloton was closing, thanks to the work of UAE Emirates-XRG, and the gap was down to roughly a minute and a half at the foot of Ovronnaz.

The climb was genuinely ferocious. After a more moderate opening, the gradients turned savage — well into double digits. A perfect climb for Pogačar to make his move, but would the 34 kilometres after the summit give him pause? Judging by his team's relentless pace-setting at the bottom, apparently not. Race leader Godon was immediately dropped at the base of the climb.

News also came through that Oscar Onley had abandoned. The INEOS Grenadiers leader was suffering from stomach problems. On the lower slopes, all the puncheurs were shed, making it clear this would be a climbers' stage. The only question remaining: when would Pogačar attack?

The answer came quickly. The world champion attacked 38 kilometres from the finish, with compatriot Primož Roglič (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe) immediately on his wheel. Roglič held on briefly, but Lenny Martinez (Bahrain Victorious) hung on impressively. Pogačar did not look back, but he could not shake the young Frenchman.

His pace was not yet full gas. Florian Lipowitz (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe) managed to close back on the pair, with the surprise Jefferson Alveiro Cepeda (Movistar) making it four at the front. Further back, Nordhagen (Visma | Lease a Bike) was also chasing hard. It was becoming clear that Pogačar was not as untouchable as many had expected.

Two kilometres from the summit, he lifted the pace again, shedding Cepeda. But Pogačar did not crest the top alone — Lipowitz and Martinez were still with him. Nordhagen was not far behind. Could he close the gap on the descent? He threw himself down the mountain, but there was no waiting. By the bottom, the gap was still around six seconds.

On the flat run-in, the young Norwegian finally made it across. Four riders at the front — though Lipowitz was refusing to do any work. Behind, Cepeda was drifting in no man's land, but a chase group containing Roglič, Carlos Rodríguez (INEOS Grenadiers), Luke Plapp (Jayco AlUla), Junior Lecerf (Soudal Quick-Step) and Antonio Tiberi (Bahrain Victorious) still had close to a minute to find. That looked like too much.

The cooperation at the front was compromised by Lipowitz's inactivity, though — he had teammates Roglič and Luke Tuckwell in the chase group and was content to sit. Suddenly the gap was coming down. The chasers had found a rhythm. Fifteen seconds. Then, with two kilometres to go, Pogačar was doing everything alone.

The gap fell to fifteen seconds, but the world champion did not panic. It came to a sprint: Nordhagen launched first, but Pogačar responded sharply and powered over him. Lipowitz was second, Martinez third.