Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) sealed the Tour de Romandie title in style on Sunday, winning his fourth stage on the final day of the six-day race.
The World Champion defused the inevitable attacks from second-placed Florian Lipowitz (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) on the summit finish at Leysin – even itching his nose as he responded to the German’s opening salvo – before out-sprinting him in sight of the line.
Such was Pogačar’s superiority, he opened a three-second gap over Lipowitz in the short sprint for the line, with Lipowitz’s teammate Primož Roglič summoning a late charge to take third place on the stage.
Article continues below
You may like
“On the climb Florian attacked first and did a really good job but luckily I could survive in his wheel. He launched pretty early in the final and it was a fight to the finish line,” Pogačar said.
The climb to Leysin – 13.9km at an average gradient of 6% – was the only major obstacle on the route, and the stage appeared to be set for a Lenny Martinez attack after his Bahrain Victorious team had worked all day and raised the pace on the final climb.
However, that fizzled out, and it was Lipowitz – 35 seconds down and the only rider within two minutes of Pogačar’s overall lead – who struck out just over 3km to the top.
Florian Lipowitz of Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe, in the Orange Points Jersey, checks on his rival and race leader Tadej Pogačar of UAE Team Emirates – XRG on the final climb (Image credit: Getty Images)
Pogačar responded with ease to the German’s opening two accelerations, the second sending them clear of the other GC candidates once again. Pogačar launched one small acceleration of his own, and even offered up a few turns to Lipowitz, such is his irrepressible energy.
Primož Roglič of Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe crosses the finish line in third place (Image credit: Getty Images)
But inside the final kilometre the pace slowed to the point where Roglič, who wasn’t even among the initial cluster of chasers, came roaring back with a late attempt to fly over the top. Just as his teammate was making contact, though, Lipowitz opened the taps for a long-range sprint, which drew Pogačar out into his final race-winning acceleration.
Pogačar tops the final general classification by 42 seconds over Lipowitz, with Martinez taking the final spot on the GC podium at 2:44.
Pogačar takes his 2026 victory tally to 10, winning the Tour de Romandie for the first time on his first appearance to collect the 19th stage race success of his career.
What to read next
How it unfolded
A general view of the peloton passing through vineyards during Tour de Romandie’s 178.2km stage 5 (Image credit: Getty Images)
The final stage of the 2026 Tour de Romandie measured 178.2km from Lucens to Leysin, featuring a couple of categorized climbs on a lumpy route towards the final climb to Leysin (13.9km at 6%).
The day’s breakaway was sparked by Jakob Söderqvist (Lidl-Trek) and Lorenzo Germani (Groupama-FDJ United), and they were soon joined by six more: Marco Schrettl (XDS Astana), Gil Gelders (Soudal-QuickStep), Robbe Dhondt (Picnic-PostNL), Asbjørn Hellemose (Jayco-AlUla), and the Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe duo of Jan Tratnik and Finn-Fisher Black.
Tratnik claimed maximum points at both of the two minor climbs, at Sottens (5.8km at 3.9%) after 80km and at Vulliens (4km at 4.4%) after 95km.
After that, it was over to Gelders, who helped himself to maximum points at the two intermediate sprints, the first at Chardonne with 50km to go and the second in Aigle at the foot of the final climb.
The breakaway pace being set at the front by Jan Tratnik of Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe and Marco Schrettl of Team XDS Astana (Image credit: Getty Images)
The breakaway’s advantage never grew much beyond three minutes as UAE Team Emirates-XRG found assistance from Bahrain Victorious in controlling the pace in the bunch.
As they hit the final climb to Leysin with 14km to go, the gap was down to 30 seconds, and it was soon game over for the break. The likes of Gelders, Germani, and Söderqvist quickly dropped off the back before, a kilometer or so in, Fisher-Black accelerated and went solo in the break.
Finn Fisher-Black of Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe attacks (Image credit: Getty Images)
The New Zealander found 30 seconds with 10km to go but was caught around 7.5km from the top.
Bahrain Victorious then took over in earnest, with Antonio Tiberi producing a long turn before handing over to Damiano Caruso. However, when Caruso pulled aside with 3.7km to go, Martinez did not budge. Instead, Felix Großschartner took it up for UAE amid the anti-climax, and it was a few hundred meters before Lipowitz finally opened the race.
Pogačar wiped his nose as he responded to the first acceleration, and after Jorgen Nordhagen (Visma-Lease a Bike) attempted to take advantage of a lull, he followed Lipowitz’s second acceleration with just as much ease.
This time, the pair were clear of the rest. As Pogačar sat in the wheel, Lipowitz flicked his elbow and asked for a turn. What he got was an attack, though he responded well to it. Lipowitz launched one more attack with 2.5km to go but then settled into a more sedate pace, with Pogačar rolling through on occasion to keep the move going to the line.
Roglič almost threw a spanner in the works with his comeback show but Lipowitz soon opened the sprint on the final kicker, where Pogačar simply underlined his superiority.
GC podium (L to R): Florian Lipowitz of Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe on second place, race winner Tadej Pogačar of UAE Team Emirates -XRG and Lenny Martinez of Bahrain – Victorious on third place (Image credit: Getty Images)Results
Results powered by FirstCycling