Tadej Pogačar has a secondary goal at the 2026 Tour de Suisse: 'Always a great day'

UAE Emirates-XRG recorded its 41st victory of the season on Friday. Jhonatan Narváez finished a formidable breakaway of more than 100 kilometers in Bad Ragaz, where team leader Tadej Pogacar managed to retain the yellow leader’s jersey. After the race, both men briefly shared their thoughts.

Narváez broke away with Xandro Meurisse well before the finish line. “It was a tough day. We had headwinds, especially in the final stretch, and Xandro and I gave it our all. So I’m happy. We rode really well in the final stretch,” said the Ecuadorian, who has already won three stages in the Giro d’Italia.

"We made a mistake yesterday, and now two riders from the team had the chance to go for a stage win. So I tried to get into the breakaway," said Narvaez, who had fallen behind with Pogacar on the previous stage. "After that, we went all out together with Xandro. I’m glad I got that chance."

Pogacar confirmed Narvaez’s account. “The plan was to get someone into the breakaway right from the start. At first, Felix and Jhonny were in the lead group, and then it was just Jhonny. They really pulled away incredibly fast,” the team leader observed as well. “It was a super-fast stage; it went by really quickly. So hats off to Johnny and Meurisse for managing to stay out front today.”

The individual time trial is scheduled for Saturday, which Pogacar will tackle on his new bike. “I think it’s my first real time trial of the year. (He did ride the prologue in the Tour de Romandie, ed.) It’ll be fun to see how my legs feel and how my form is. So I’m really looking forward to tomorrow. A time trial day is always a great day, and so far, things are going great here.”