Tadej Pogačar looks more than ready to defend his Tour de France title after he cruised to overall victory at the 2026 Tour de Suisse on Sunday.
The five-day Tour de Suisse was the last stop for many riders preparing for the biggest Grand Tour in the world next month, and many were keen to know how they measure up to Pogačar – who has won four Tour de France titles, including the last two.
And in his signature puncheur style, Pogačar sent a warning to rivals that they would have to work harder to dethrone him after winning the Swiss race with more than a six-minute gap.
Pogačar reigns supreme
Pogačar had the race under control from the start, winning the first stage after going solo 69.5 kilometres from the finish line.
He held the GC lead from that moment onwards.
Groupama–FDJ United’s Romain Gregoire won the second stage in a sprint against five other riders, while Pogačar’s team-mate Jhonatan Narváez secured stage three with a breakaway masterclass.
All eyes were then on the individual time trial stage four, where Pogačar’s dominance met competition in the form of Alpecin–Premier Tech’s Mathieu van der Poel, who pulled off an astonishing time trial to top the sheets.
He sat in the lead chair for nearly an hour before he watched Pogačar hit the roads and pip his time by a mere 0.31 seconds.
Even Van der Poel was in disbelief at Pogačar’s time-trial performance, grimacing at the screen as the UAE Team Emirates XRG man crossed the line.
On the subsequent brutal mountainous stage five, Pogačar accelerated away from the peloton and hunted down the breakaway, outpacing Lenny Martinez of Bahrain Victorious to go solo for another stage win and the overall victory 800 metres ahead of the finish line.
Slovenian’s extra motivation
It was Pogačar’s first appearance at the Tour de Suisse.
With a gap of more than six minutes, he beat Richard Carapaz of EF Education–EasyPost and Mathias Vacek of Lidl–Trek in second and third, respectively.
“It was a super hard day. The parcours were really tough and with the team, we did a super job. It was getting harder and harder every lap that we did, and in the end, it was an all-out effort,” Pogačar said after the last stage on Sunday.
He did not shy away from admitting his goals, saying the race gave him a chance to test himself ahead of the Tour de France.
“It was good on the final climb. With this heat, this is likely how it will look at the Tour de France, and so much elevation before. So it was really good to test the legs, the heart and the lungs on the final climb,” the Slovenian added.
There was also extra motivation for Pogačar in the race after his partner Urška Žigart had fractured her jaw in a high-speed crash on Thursday in the women’s edition of the Tour de Suisse.
In an interview with Cycling Pro Net on Friday, Pogačar had said she was doing well: “I went straight to see Urška in hospital after the stage yesterday [stage 2].
“She had to stay overnight as a precaution, but thankfully she was discharged today.
“She really wants me to take this leader’s jersey home.”
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Defending French crown
Pogačar has had a stellar season so far, dominating nearly every race in his programme, excluding the elusive Paris–Roubaix that was won by Visma–Lease a Bike’s Wout van Aert.
Despite that loss, his Classics campaign run was nothing short of spectacular as he cruised to a victory in Strade Bianche, Milano–Sanremo, Ronde van Vlaanderen and Liège-Bastogne-Liège.
He also won the five-day Tour of Romandie last month.
It bears resemblance to the programme of his greatest rival Jonas Vingegaard, who has won all of his races so far in a similarly commanding fashion.
Pogačar and Vingegaard have been unbeatable forces at the Tour de France in the last six years, with Pogačar winning in 2020 and 2021 before Vingegaard ended his dominance in 2022 and 2023.
Pogačar snatched the crown back from him in 2024 and 2025, with Vingegaard trailing behind in second.
This year, they are set to collide again on July 4, and it is evident that Pogačar is keen to defend his title once more, not just against Vingegaard but the rest of the peloton.
“Now it is time to reset a little bit at home, do a bit of specific training and we are off to Barcelona very soon for the Tour de France,” Pogačar concluded.
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