Tadej Pogačar moved into the Tour de Romandie lead after winning stage 1 in Martigny for UAE Team Emirates-XRG.
The Slovenian world champion took the victory in a four-rider sprint, finishing ahead of Florian Lipowitz of Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe and Lenny Martinez of Bahrain Victorious.
The result gave Pogačar his first stage win of 2026 and his fifth victory of the season. It also put the UAE-backed team in control of the yellow jersey after the opening road stage.
“The best defence is to attack, so we will see how we approach the next days.”
Pogačar had arrived in Switzerland only three days after winning Liège-Bastogne-Liège. He did not take long to put pressure on the general classification contenders.
UAE Team Emirates-XRG worked at the front for much of the day and brought the breakaway under control before the main climb. The key move came on the 8.9km ascent, which averaged 9.8 per cent.
Pavel Sivakov set up the attack for his team leader before Pogačar accelerated with around 39km left to race.
Martinez was the first rider able to follow. Lipowitz and Jefferson Cepeda of Movistar later joined them, before Cepeda dropped back. Jørgen Nordhagen of Visma-Lease a Bike then bridged across to make it four at the front.
The group held its gap on the descent and into the final 30km. Lipowitz did little work, with his teammate Primož Roglič chasing behind, but Pogačar, Martinez and Nordhagen kept the move alive.
At the finish, Pogačar had too much speed. He crossed first in 3 hours, 56 minutes and 55 seconds.
“I did not plan anything but it was nice to take the win against the youngsters,” Pogačar said.
“It was a really nice race, a very quick day and happy with the win in the sprint against the three guys.”
“I think every win is important but to win today, my first stage in a stage race this season, and to do it here in Romandie on a nice parcours, in a nice country, I really enjoyed it.”
“We saw today it was all on us all day, the team did a super good job, so also for this reason I am super happy to take the yellow jersey.”
“Now we will try to defend it every stage, and the best defence is to attack, so we will see how we approach the next days.”
Pogačar now leads the general classification by seven seconds from Lipowitz, with Martinez third at 16 seconds.
Tour de Romandie 2026 stage 1 result
- Tadej Pogačar, UAE Team Emirates-XRG, 3:56:55
- Florian Lipowitz, Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe, same time
- Lenny Martinez, Bahrain Victorious, same time
General classification after stage 1
- Tadej Pogačar, UAE Team Emirates-XRG, 4:00:27
- Florian Lipowitz, Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe, +7 seconds
- Lenny Martinez, Bahrain Victorious, +16 seconds
