Tadej Pogačar described a “hard transition” as he climbed his first mountain of 2026 on Wednesday, but the world champion didn’t show any signs of suffering on the opening road stage of the Tour de Romandie. In fact, he rode well within himself, taking a victory built as much on brain power as leg power.
Pogačar had opted for a Classics-only start to the season, winning Strade Bianche, Milan-San Remo, the Tour of Flanders, and Liège-Bastogne-Liège, finishing runner-up in his only other race, Paris-Roubaix.
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“It was a little bit of a hard transition today, from short climbs to a long, steep climb, but I managed pretty well,” Pogačar said.
Victory on the day backed that up, and while it was hard-fought by the end, it saw Pogačar forced to curb his efforts and his attacking instincts on the climb itself.
Lenny Martinez (Bahrain Victorious) was the only rider who could follow Pogačar at first, with Florian Lipowitz (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) soon working his way across and Jorgen Nordhagen (Visma-Lease a Bike) making it a quartet in the valley.
“In the end, I was happy I had some company for after the climb because it was tough conditions to go so far from the finish with the headwind,” Pogačar said.
So used to solo raids, Pogačar found himself in a tricky tactical situation, with Lipowitz sandbagging due to the presence of his…
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