Pogačar does it again — isolated, outnumbered, and still the fastest man at Romandie

Tadej Pogačar has won stage two of the Tour de Romandie. The Slovenian beat Dorian Godon and others in a bunch sprint, neutralising every attack himself before proving the fastest man on the line. He holds the race lead.

As expected, Pogačar seized control in stage one — though, perhaps surprisingly, he had to contest a sprint rather than ride clear solo. He explained his decision afterwards: with a headwind over the final 22 kilometres, going it alone would have cost him unnecessary energy.

With the sport's most prolific winner in the field, it was always likely that stage two would again revolve around the world champion. The parcours rolled up and down all day without ever becoming truly severe, leaving several scenarios in play. But with an uphill finish on the cards, another show of strength from the Slovenian was firmly on the agenda.

A four-man breakaway formed early. Henri-François Renard-Haquin (Picnic PostNL), Roland Thalmann (Tudor), Italian champion Filippo Conca (Jayco AlUla) and Jakob Söderqvist (Lidl-Trek) built a lead of over two minutes on the peloton, where UAE Team Emirates-XRG were joined in the chase by INEOS Grenadiers, who made their ambitions for Godon clear.

While the race settled into a steady rhythm, retirements began to mount. Picnic PostNL climber Mattia Gaffuri — who had finished a respectable 25th the day before — abandoned, as did Mauro Schmid (Jayco AlUla). The Swiss rider has been in excellent form this season and was considered an outside contender for the stage, but could not continue at the halfway point.

INEOS and UAE maintained control through the final local circuit. The peloton had thinned, but no major gaps were opening — at least not yet, with the Vuillens (3.1 km at 5.4%) still to come. Entering the final lap, the breakaway's advantage had shrunk to just under a minute.

With around 10 kilometres remaining, UAE took over from INEOS at the front, while Söderqvist held off his breakaway companions. The pace from the peloton was now scorching, and the Swede's effort looked likely to end in vain as the final climb approached — though with five kilometres to go, he still held a 20-second gap.

It was Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe who turned up the heat in the peloton, with Primož Roglič driving the pace — until Jefferson Cepeda (Movistar) launched an attack. That acceleration ended Söderqvist's escape. Pogačar sat near the front of the peloton, but he was isolated. Not a single UAE teammate was visible, leaving the world champion to personally close down every move himself.

Florian Lipowitz tried his luck, but Pogačar was immediately on his wheel. Godon — for whom INEOS Grenadiers had worked throughout the day — briefly disappeared from the front group, but returned at exactly the right moment to contest the sprint. The Frenchman could not match Pogačar, who won again.