GENEVA, 30th April, 2026 (WAM) — On stage 1 of the Tour de Romandie, UAE Team Emirates-XRG’s rider Tadej Pogačar took the day’s honours and became the new race leader.
Just 24 hours on from the opening prologue, Pogačar stamped his authority on the race for UAE Team Emirates-XRG. For the world champion, it was his first road stage of the season and his first stage victory of 2026.
The win moves Pogačar to five victories for the campaign, and puts him and his Emirati squad into control of the race leader’s yellow jersey.
Just three days on from his Liège-Bastogne-Liège triumph, Pogačar eyed up his opportunity to put his general classification rivals under pressure. Right from the off, it was UAE Team Emirates-XRG who put the squeeze on the peloton, as the day’s breakaway was handily reeled in.
It was then, on the major climb of the day (8.9km at 9.8 percent), that Pogačar’s teammate Pavel Sivakov produced a vicious lead-out for the Slovenian. With Sivakov opening up the show, Pogačar soon delivered a trademark acceleration, some 39km from the finish line in Martigny.
Initially, it was only Lenny Martinez of Bahrain Victorious that could follow the 27-year-old’s wheel, but the pair were later joined by Florian Lipowitz (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe) and Jefferson Cepeda (Movistar). Further up the climb, Cepeda could not stand the pace, and his place in the leading group was taken by Jørgen Nordhagen of Visma-Lease a Bike.
Once this front four was decided, the quartet held their advantage through the descent of the climb. Into the final 30km, it soon became clear that Lipowitz would not contribute to the pace-setting, with his teammate Primož Roglič sitting in a group behind.
Nevertheless, Nordhagen, Martinez and Pogačar relayed and ensured that the front group of four would sprint for the honours at the finish line. In this four-up sprint, it was Pogačar who packed the biggest punch and took the stage 1 victory.
Speaking after the finish, the UAE Team Emirates-XRG rider heaped praise both on his breakaway companions and his fellow teammates.
Source: Emirates News Agency