Pogačar seals Tour de Suisse win with final mountain stage

Tadej Pogačar completed a commanding overall victory at the Tour de Suisse on Sunday, securing the title by winning the brutal final mountain stage in Villars-sur-Ollon, Switzerland. The world champion from UAE Team Emirates caught lone breakaway rider Lenny Martinez with just 800 meters remaining on the final climb to claim his third stage win of the five-day race.

Pogačar finished the 150.7-kilometer queen stage seven seconds ahead of Martinez, with Bart Lemmen taking third, 1 minute and 33 seconds back. The victory sealed Pogačar’s first Tour de Suisse general classification win by a massive margin of 6 minutes and 32 seconds over runner-up Richard Carapaz. Mathias Vacek finished third overall, 6 minutes and 53 seconds behind the champion.

The final stage, featuring over 4,000 meters of climbing across four ascents of the Col de la Croix in soaring temperatures, proved a war of attrition. An 11-rider breakaway formed early, but Pogačar’s team, with assistance from the Decathlon-AG2R La Mondiale squad, kept the gap manageable. With just under nine kilometers remaining, Pogačar launched his decisive attack from the reduced peloton, quickly distancing Carapaz and setting off in...