Pogačar gives three reasons for his sprint win on stage 2 of Tour de Romandie

We know Tadej Pogačar is capable of almost anything — but winning a bunch sprint from a sizeable peloton? That wasn't on the list until very recently. On Thursday, the UAE Team Emirates-XRG man defied all logic by beating Dorian Godon (INEOS Grenadiers) on the Frenchman's own turf. Pogačar admitted afterwards that a little luck played its part.

The world champion has had everything under control in Switzerland so far. Godon took the prologue on day one, but by stage one Pogačar was already finishing with the best GC men. He won the sprint of four and took the leader's jersey from the Frenchman in the process.

In yellow, Pogačar knew another opportunity awaited on Thursday — but INEOS Grenadiers controlled the stage impressively throughout, setting up Godon for a second win. It wasn't to be. The rainbow jersey crossed the line first in Vucherens.

How did he pull it off? Pogačar offered several explanations afterwards. The first was course knowledge. "We knew the finale well because we did the circuit three times, so I also knew the sprint would be hard — because of all the little climbs we'd already done."

The second factor: sprinting into a headwind. "It was super-fast climbing with a tailwind, but in the sprint the wind was fully against us and it was slightly downhill, so I didn't want to be too far at the front."

"After the last corner I was actually a bit too far forward, but some riders came too early, which worked in my favour," Pogačar smiled in the flash interview. Being swept along by those early moves allowed him to time his launch perfectly.

The most important factor, though, may have been the brutal finale — constant up and down, with the legs never getting a rest. "To make a difference, that final climb was important. It wasn't hard enough to create time gaps, but it was in the legs."

"If you went over your limit there, it would be harder to sprint well. Luckily I had everything under control and was able to produce a good sprint," said the winner, who also thanked Primož Roglič (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe) for making the closing kilometres even harder. "He attacked, which meant it was very fast."

Pogačar added that winning had not been the priority. "We had Vegard [Stake Laengen] on the front all day with INEOS, but it was full gas — so when it got too hard for him, we were fine with that."

That attitude will carry through the rest of the week. Although everyone expects a Pogačar stage win every day, he is keen to emphasise the work behind each one. "If the breakaway had won, that would have been fine too."

"The goal isn't to win everything — every win is hard. Everyone has to work for it. Chapeau to the team for how they rode again today. But if I say now that we want a quiet stage on Friday, everyone will sit on us and it'll be full gas anyway. Let's hope for a good tempo where we don't waste too much energy."