Tour of Switzerland 2026 Stage 4 Preview | Can Pogačar conquer the time trial too?

The Tour de Suisse continues Saturday with an individual time trial in Aarburg. Tadej Pogacar will defend a solid lead in the general classification there, before the race heads to Villars-sur-Ollon on Sunday. IDL Pro Cycling looks ahead.

So we’ll be starting and finishing in the same place all week, and that makes perfect sense for Saturday, too, since we’ll be racing against the clock. Between the start and the finish in Aarburg, the organizers have mapped out a 23.7-kilometer course that includes very little elevation gain—at least by Swiss standards.

The riders will set off westward toward the first—and only—intermediate checkpoint. The route will consist mainly of straight roads, although there are a few sharp turns just before the split times are recorded.

This is followed by a somewhat winding section, after which the final 10 kilometers will mainly consist of straight-ahead pedaling. In the very final stretch, the riders will still have to make two sharp right turns. All in all, it’s quite twisty, though on paper it doesn’t look particularly technical. The big bikes should be able to handle it on Saturday.

Times
Start: 3:04 p.m CET (first rider)
Finish: around 5:34 p.m CET (last rider)

Hot, hotter, hottest! It’s been warm in Switzerland all week, and on Saturday the temperature will rise to well over 30 degrees Celsius. A bit of sunshine, around 35 degrees, and a breeze from the southwest that’s anything but cooling: the riders will have to keep their engines as cool as possible on Saturday.

On the very first day, the Tour de Suisse immediately became the Tour de Tadej Pogacar, and the world champion is, of course, a master of the time trial. This year, the Slovenian rider from UAE Team Emirates competed in only one time trial, though it was just a 3.2-kilometer prologue in the Tour de Romandie, where he finished sixth.

Still, Pogi won’t have it easy, as quite a few specialists have traveled to Switzerland. We’re certainly keeping an eye on teammates Brandon McNulty and Felix Grossschartner, but with riders like Rémi Cavagna (Groupama-FDJ United), Alec Segaert (Bahrain Victorious), and Ilan Van Wilder (Soudal Quick-Step), there are definitely more specialists in the mix.

Of course, don’t forget to keep an eye on Primož Roglič (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe) as well. The Slovenian returned to racing after more than a month away, though he himself had some doubts beforehand about how his form would be. His teammate Aleksandr Vlasov, for his part, is also an excellent time trialist.

Are there any other riders who can put in a solid time trial performance and are therefore worth keeping an eye on? Antonio Tiberi (Bahrain Victorious), Mathias Vacek (Lidl-Trek), Finn Fisher-Black (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe), Andrew August (Netcompany INEOS), Sjoerd Bax (Pinarello-Q36.5), Oscar Chamberlain (Decathlon CMA CGM), and Mauro Schmid (Jayco AlUla).

Top Favorites: Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG)
Dark horses: Brandon McNulty (UAE Team Emirates-XRG), Mathias Vacek (Lidl-Trek), and Alec Segaert (Bahrain Victorious)
Long shots: Felix Grosschartner (UAE Team Emirates-XRG), Rémi Cavagna (Groupama-FDJ United), Ilan Van Wilder (Soudal Quick-Step), Primož Roglič (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe), Antonio Tiberi (Bahrain Victorious), Finn Fisher-Black (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe), Sjoerd Bax (Pinarello-Q36.5), and Mauro Schmid (Jayco AlUla)