Tadej Pogačar followed up his first career Tour de Romandie stage victory on Wednesday with a reduced-bunch sprint win on Thursday, increasing his race lead by 10 seconds. The world champion has six victories in eight days of 2026 racing.
The Course
After 33.5 km, the riders entered a 46-km circuit for three laps, each containing Cat. 3 Vulliens. The finish line was placed 3 km past the crest of the final Vulliens.
A fugitive also on Stage 1, Roland Thalmann had been stymied in his attempt to take the first light-blue-dot jersey by Lenny Martinez, but he gave it another whirl on Thursday, bringing along three other fellows. Thalmann was the King of the Mountains on the road after the first two circuits.
The quartet resisted Ineos’s attentions. Lidl-Trek Swede Jakob Söderqvist was the last fugitive left out in front just before the last ascent of Vulliens. UAE-Emirates took over from Ineos. With 4.3 km to go, Söderqvist was caught. Riders started to make accelerations but Pogačar was wise to their aspirations.
Second-place Florian Lipowitz’s late attack kicked off the sprint. French champion Dorian Godon opened up his sprint, but the world champion came around him on the right side to double his Romandie pleasure.
Friday’s tough Cat. 2 crests 32-km from the line in Orbe.
79th Tour de Romandie, Stage 2
1) Tadej Pogačar (Slovenia/UAE-Emirates) 4:08:11
2) Dorian Godon (France/Ineos) s.t.
3) Finn Fisher Black (New Zealand/Red Bull) s.t.
79th Tour de Romandie GC
1) Tadej Pogačar (Slovenia/UAE-Emirates) 8:08:28
2) Florian Lipowitz (Germany/Red Bull) +0:17
3) Lenny Martinez (France/Bahrain-Victorious) +0:26
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at Canadian Cycling Magazine…