Pogacar destroys field with outrageous long-range attack in Tour de Suisse opener

The first stage of the Tour de Suisse has been won by Tadej Pogacar. The UAE Team Emirates-XRG world champion did not waste any time in the opening stage, launching an attack with seventy kilometres still to go. He crossed the finish line with a massive advantage, with Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost) finishing second ahead of Andrea Bagioli (Lidl-Trek).

A section of the major Tour de France contenders had already shown their form last week in the Tour Auvergne - Rhône-Alpes, but the remaining contingent waited a bit longer for the Tour de Suisse. Boasting world champion Tadej Pogacar and Mathieu van der Poel, the race featured two absolute star attractions. However, other marquee names like Richard Carapaz, Thibau Nys, Primoz Roglic and Matthew Brennan were also at the start.

The race served up a gem of an opening stage right from the off. Centred around Sondrio, 2,500 metres of climbing were on the agenda, featuring a finale that would not look out of place in a spring Classic. With three short, steep ascents crammed into the final twenty kilometres, it promised to be an immediate treat. Were fans about to witness an early duel between Van der Poel and Pogacar?

The opening phase was flat, allowing two breakaway riders to escape. Cedric Beullens (Lotto-Intermarché) and habitual attacker Fredrik Dversnes (Uno-X Mobility) received little assistance and had to figure it out as a duo. Following the first hill, the steep Buglio in Monte, Dversnes was left alone after Beullens was dropped. By then, the pace in the peloton was already scorching.

Consequently, Afonso Eulálio and Antonio Tiberi, the team leaders for Bahrain Victorious, were already finding things difficult. Meanwhile, Pogacar made his intentions perfectly clear. He immediately involved himself in the intermediate bonus sprints, taking maximum points from the peloton behind the lone leader. Not long after, he decided to exploit a moment of hesitation, accelerating clear with 70 kilometres left to the line. Was it going to be one of those days?

His rivals immediately slipped into panic mode. Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost) and Mathias Vacek (Lidl-Trek) attempted to mount a chase, but they watched the Slovenian grow smaller and smaller in the distance. Pogacar quickly caught Dversnes and soon left the Norwegian behind as well. Behind him, the initial pursuers were reabsorbed by a group of outsiders.

Further back in that group, we saw Primoz Roglic (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe), Andrew August (Netcompany INEOS), Andrea Bagioli (Lidl-Trek), Paul Double (Jayco AlUla) and Brandon McNulty (UAE Team Emirates-XRG). They were later joined by McNulty's teammate Jhonatan Narváez, Ilan Van Wilder (Soudal Quick-Step), Tiesj Benoot (Decathlon CMA CGM) and Wilco Kelderman (Visma | Lease a Bike). However, after about eight kilometres of riding alone, Pogacar had already established a gap of well over a minute.

For Van der Poel, the race unfolded in a far from ideal manner. Had the peloton taken a more conservative approach, he might have survived until the final section. Instead, due to the early explosion, he dropped out of the peloton with sixty kilometres remaining. Up ahead, the chasing group grew larger and larger, a development that did not please Carapaz. The Ecuadorian set off alone in pursuit.

He did so with impressive determination. He steadily pulled away from the other chasers, yet still faced a deficit of one and a half minutes to Pogacar. That gap only widened, particularly when the road tilted upwards. At the highest point of the day, with 30 kilometres to go, Pogacar's advantage had grown to 2:20 over Carapaz, and nearly four minutes over the main chasing group...

A highly gruelling finale followed the descent, featuring multiple climbs with double-digit gradients. The lone leader took zero risks on the descents, but on the climbs, he was completely dominant. Bagioli, who grew up in the local region, went in pursuit of Carapaz but just fell short. Pogacar crossed the line well clear to take the win ahead of Carapaz, who lost 2:13 minutes. Bagioli finished third at 2:28 minutes, while the next group lost more than four minutes.