Tour de Suisse Men stage 2 LIVE: Breakaway reaches punchy finale with lead intact, but Pogačar’s UAE team are chasing them down quickly

The strongest 10 riders in the break who are still out there are: Verstrynge, Vader, Eulalio, Costiou, Gregoire, Zana, Pickering, Hamilton, Lemmen and Camprubi. They have 35 seconds of a lead to defend, with Pogačar himself chasing now.

2026-06-18T15:17:35.248Z

Verstrynge is one of those who responded to Eulalio’s move, but he’s trying to get the strongest climbers in the break to work together, and failing.

2026-06-18T15:16:55.564Z

McNulty’s pace is definitely doing damage, and even with those attacks in front, the gap is falling quickly to those in front, now at 1:20 with 13.8km to go.

2026-06-18T15:16:01.264Z

Attack from Eulálio, who is showing off some more of that stunning Giro form. The break is splintering as the race kicks off all over the road.

2026-06-18T15:14:48.593Z

The break is still 13-strong in front, but they will need to get a move on if they don’t want to be swallowed up by UAE. 90 seconds is all they have, but it is holding.

Curiously, through, Pogačar looks to be working for Narváez, who is sat comfortably in his wheel.

2026-06-18T15:12:27.638Z

Pogačar has suddenly moved up in the main bunch onto the Fanghi climb and looks like a coiled spring. UAE’s McNulty upping the pace reduced the gap down to 1:30 in rapid time.

2026-06-18T15:11:42.286Z

It’s Pickering who kicks off the action in front, but Alaphilippe is straight onto his wheel as are the others in front. Peloton is now 1:45 behind after the impetus returned.

UAE have stopped their efforts behind and the peloton seems to be slowing dow significantly, with Pogačar’s team happy to let the win go up the road.

2026-06-18T15:06:44.450Z

Analysing the breakaway as the stage win looks more likely to be going their direction, I would say Grégoire should be best suited to the finale, but there is a lot of punch in this group from the likes of Alaphilippe and top cyclo-cross rider Verstrynge.

Pinarello Q36.5 also remain the strongest team, numbers-wise, and if Wright can make it into a small-group sprint, this could be his day, though Vader should be better-suited to the punchy hills.

2026-06-18T15:00:23.206Z

EF Education-EasyPost have moved themselves towards the front of the peloton near UAE, finally offering up a helping hand with second-placed Richard Carapaz among their ranks.

The kilometres are ticking by quickly now, and the break are heading towards the two final climbs which will surely decide the day: Fanghi (3.6km at 7%) and Via Consiglio Mezzano (1.4km at 8.9%).

2026-06-18T14:47:12.185Z

The break are flying along in front and holding off the efforts of UAE behind. There onto a slightly downhill section of the route, which is helping them stay ahead with such high speeds.

While UAE have pressed on behind with more riders, it hasn’t made much of a dent into the still significant 2:38 lead for the 14 in front.

2026-06-18T14:37:27.972Z

Pogačar looks very comfortable in the bunch, chatting away with teammates as Wellens and Politt continue trying to bring back the break.

2026-06-18T14:31:25.654Z

Here’s a reminder of the 14 riders in the break, who still have a 2:36 advantage with 45km to go and are working well against the chasing UAE-led peloton:
– Emiel Verstrynge (Alpecin-Premier Tech)
– Afonso Eulálio (Bahrain-Victorious)
– Ewen Costiou (Groupama-FDJ United)
– Romain Grégoire (Groupama-FDJ United)
– Bauke Mollema (Lidl-Trek)
– Filippo Zana (Soudal-QuickStep)
– Finlay Pickering (Jayco AlUla)
– Chris Hamilton (Picnic PostNL)
– Bart Lemmen (Visma-Lease a Bike)
– Marco Schrettle (XDS Astana)
– Milan Vader (Pinarello-Q36.5)
– Marcel Camprubi (Pinarello Q36.5)
– Fred Wright (Pinarello Q36.5)
– Julian Alaphilippe (Tudor)

2026-06-18T14:28:21.120Z

Front wheel change for Tobias Foss back in the main group. He’s got one teammate waiting for him after a slow change.

2026-06-18T14:27:02.262Z

UAE have brought more firepower to the front in the form of Belgian champion Tim Wellens.

These past 20km have seen the two groups on the road holding the same gap on each other, 2:50 separating the break and the peloton. Next point of action will be the upcoming Tissot KM sprint in Lodrino.

2026-06-18T14:13:50.699Z

No help for UAE in the peloton as they continue to let the gap grow. Approaching three minutes now, but they should turn it on when they get nearer to the punchy finale.

The gap to the breakaway is out to 2:30. While the next categorised climb arrives in around 50km, the 14 in front will soon be onto an uncategorised section of uphill roads.

2026-06-18T14:02:13.598Z

While UAE are chasing with the race leader Pogačar as the obvious choice for the stage win, the Slovenian did point to other potential outcomes after his dominant stage win yesterday:

“[Tomorrow’s goal is] stay safe and keep the jersey,” he said. “We have a strong team; we can try to go for the stage with Johnny [Narváez], Brandon [McNulty], or Felix [Großschartner], or anybody else in the team, we’ll see how the guys feel.”

Could he be riding for a teammate come the final climbs?

(Image credit: Getty Images)

With only two UAE riders swapping in and working on the front, the gap is now going in the right direction for the breakaway riders, out to more than two minutes now.

2026-06-18T13:50:17.094Z

Fred Wright is back in the break after his crash. Still 14 in the lead, 1:48 ahead of the UAE-led peloton.

2026-06-18T13:45:27.244Z

The bunch really aren’t letting the break have it their way on stage two; the gap is down to 1:25.

There’s been a crash in the leading group for one of the Pinarello Q36.5 riders, Fred Wright. They had the numeric advantage in the group.

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Riders in the peloton can expect to see a lot of Nils Politt on the front today, as he works for Pogačar in the peloton.

(Image credit: Getty Images)

2026-06-18T13:36:08.052Z

With the gap to the break still at only 1:40, there are no real threats to Pogačar’s yellow jersey in the 14-man move. Pickering started as the closest overall, 4:44 down.

The gap to the break is still sat at around 1:45, with UAE controlling the peloton.

2026-06-18T13:22:19.049Z

Afonos Eulálio announced himself to the world at the Giro d’Italia with a stunning stint in the pink jersey. Here he is leading the breakaway on stage 2 at the Tour de Suisse, but he won’t be able to mount much of a surprise attack.

(Image credit: Getty Images)

2026-06-18T13:20:53.854Z

After being allowed to form on a long section of uncategorised climbing, the break is now onto a long descent and then flatter middle section of the route.

2026-06-18T13:12:50.165Z

After a tough opening hour of racing on stage 2, the average speed was 46kph.

2026-06-18T13:12:13.204Z

There are 14 riders in the front now on stage 2, with 115km to go:
– Emiel Verstrynge (Alpecin-Premier Tech)
– Afonso Eulálio (Bahrain-Victorious)
– Ewen Costiou (Groupama-FDJ United)
– Romain Grégoire (Groupama-FDJ United)
– Bauke Mollema (Lidl-Trek)
– Filippo Zana (Soudal-QuickStep)
– Finlay Pickering (Jayco AlUla)
– Chris Hamilton (Picnic PostNL)
– Bart Lemmen (Visma-Lease a Bike)
– Marco Schrettle (XDS Astana)
– Milan Vader (Pinarello-Q36.5)
– Marcel Camprubi (Pinarello Q36.5)
– Fred Wright (Pinarello Q36.5)
– Julian Alaphilippe (Tudor)

2026-06-18T13:05:06.687Z

Race leader Pogačar’s UAE team are controlling on the front of the peloton, as expected.

Scratch that, the peloton seems happy with this composition and are now slowing down after almost 40km of fighting.

2026-06-18T13:00:46.851Z

Julian Alaphilippe (Tudor) is on the move in a counterattack, trying to join the front group. The peloton is not letting up at all, though, with the gap still at just 25 seconds.

2026-06-18T12:58:04.090Z

More attacks coming now over a section of uncategorised climbing. Just a day and a half into this edition and it’s been all-out pretty much the entire time.

Mosca, Calzoni and Rota have all been caught and the racing is back together once again on stage 2 of the Tour de Suisse.

2026-06-18T12:54:08.017Z

A look inside some of the early action, with UAE, Lidl and Tudor among the teams towards the front in the peloton.

(Image credit: Getty Images)

2026-06-18T12:51:07.364Z

The gaps are still slim at only 12 seconds, however. Lorenzo Rota (Lotto-Intermarché) is chasing to try and make it three in front.

Jacopo Mosca (Lidl-Trek) and Walter Calzoni (Pinarello-Q36.5) have formed a new two-man break at the head of the race.

2026-06-18T12:45:28.653Z

While the next categorised climbs don’t come until the final 20km of the stage, there’s lot of uncategorised uphill roads along the remainder of the route until then, so expect more action.

Those early attempts at forming a breakaway have been stopped for the moment as racing comes back together on stage 2. Rapid opening 20km so far.

2026-06-18T12:37:57.623Z

Vervaeke led the race over the King of the Mountains point, taking the maximum six points. He’s still a ways away from the haul of 14 Pogačar took on the opening day.

2026-06-18T12:36:48.863Z

Over the upper slopes of the climb and the crest, the composition of the front group on stage 2 has changed dramatically, with five riders now in the lead:
– Lenny Martinez (Bahrain Victorious)
– Louis Vervaeke (Soudal-QuickStep)
– Remy Rochas (Groupama-FDJ United)
– Bart Lemmen (Visma-Lease a Bike)
– Xabier Mikel Azparren (Pinarello-Q36.5)

2026-06-18T12:33:00.223Z

Movistar have made a big move on this climb, with both Nairo Quintana and Enric Mas also attacking across to join the original group of six and their teammate Aular.

2026-06-18T12:30:21.409Z

Lenny Martinez (Bahrain Victorious) has attacked across to the leading group. He’s a deadly threat for the stage win if this move can stick, but the gaps are still small.

2026-06-18T12:26:35.628Z

The gap to the breakaway is coming down quickly on this first climb as more riders jump off the front and some start to struggle under the pressure of the high tempo.

2026-06-18T12:22:58.029Z

The breakaway has a lead of around 40 seconds as it reaches the first climb of the stage to Monte Ceneri (5.2km at 6.4%).

2026-06-18T12:21:07.084Z

Early breakaway composition:
– Paul Lapeira (Decathlon CMA CGM)
– Alec Segaert (Bahrain-Victorious)
– Romain Grégoire (Groupama-FDJ United)
– Orluis Aular (Movistar)
– Patrick Gamper (Jayco AlUla)
– Xandro Meurisse (Pinarello-Q36.5)

Six riders have got up the road to form the early breakaway, with around 5km until the foot of the first climb of the day.

2026-06-18T12:15:50.666Z

Race leader Tadej Pogačar was given a prize to commemorate him reaching 100 career victories at the start in Locarno. Curiously, he managed this feat on stage 4 of last year’s Tour and has won 18 times since then, perhaps explaining the look on his face…

(Image credit: Getty Images)

2026-06-18T12:11:58.572Z

As the first wave of attacks starts, here’s a reminder that there have already been lots of other news stories coming out from the world of cycling today, such as this on Romain Bardet:

Stage 2 of the Tour de Suisse men is underway. All 136 riders who finished yesterday’s opener have taken the start.

2026-06-18T12:03:25.993Z

The riders are away from the start line and onto a 4.1-kilometre section of neutralised racing, before the official start.

2026-06-18T12:00:20.984Z

Just minutes away from the start in Locarno, and the riders will only have around 12km of racing to settle in before the first climb to Monte Ceneri (5.2km at 6.4%).

2026-06-18T11:58:17.307Z

If you missed any of he action from the second stage of the women’s race this morning at the Tour de Suisse, catch up with our stage report: