Four stage victories in six days, overall classification win and a domination that shows no signs of diminishing. Tadej Pogacar also claims the fifth and final stage of the 2026 Tour of Romandie, the Slovenian rider dropped Florian Lipowitz (Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe) in the final metres, winning solo the Lucens - Leysin stage, covering 178.2 km. Third place went to Primoz Roglic, with an excellent fourth place finish for Italian XDS Astana Team's Lorenzo Fortunato, who finished ninth in the overall classification.
THE RACE. Today's stage was characterized by a breakaway that started in the opening kilometres. The riders who went clear were Jakob Soederqvist (Lidl Trek), Lorenzo Germani (Groupama-FDJ), Jan Tratnik and Finn Fisher-Black (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe), Marco Schrettl (XDS Astana Team), Asbjorn Hellemose (Team Jayco AlUla), Gil Gellders (Soudal Quick-Step) and Robbe Dhondt (Team Picnic PostNL), the eight riders maintained an advantage of around 3'20" over the main group of contenders.
In the closing stages of the race, Bahrain Victorious and UAE Team Emirates XRG began collaborating to force the pace and catch the breakaway riders. The main group gradually closed the gap on the day's escapees. Finn Fisher-Black attempted a solo move twelve kilometres from the finish, creating a gap behind him. The New Zealander maintained a steady pace, holding a 30" advantage over the main group, but was caught at the 5 km mark. Lipowitz then made his move 2.5 kilometres from the line, with Tadej Pogacar following once again. Roglic also managed to close the gap in the final stretch, but the UAE Team Emirates captain made his decisive move, overtaking everyone. Once again.
«It was a tough day - the Slovenian said at the finish line -, Bahrain helped us in the chase, it was a good pace for us, Lipowitz launched his sprint too early, it was hard. I didn't know exactly what to expect from this Tour of Romandie, but I'm really happy. Every victory is important to finalize the team's work as well».
STAGE RESULTS
1. POGAČAR Tadej (UAE Team Emirates - XRG) in 4h18'52"
2. LIPOWITZ Florian (Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe) at 3"
3. ROGLIČ Primož (Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe) at 7"
4. FORTUNATO Lorenzo (XDS Astana Team) at 11"
5. NORDHAGEN Jørgen (Team Visma | Lease a Bike) s.t.
6. MARTINEZ Lenny (Bahrain - Victorious) s.t.
7. WITHEN PHILIPSEN Albert (Lidl - Trek) at 14"
8. VOISARD Yannis (Tudor Pro Cycling Team) at 17"
9. TUCKWELL Luke (Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe) s.t.
10. PLAPP Luke (Team Jayco AlUla) s.t.
OVERALL CLASSIFICATION
1. POGAČAR Tadej (UAE Team Emirates - XRG) in 20h05'42"
2. LIPOWITZ Florian (Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe) at 42"
3. MARTINEZ Lenny (Bahrain - Victorious) at 2'44"
4. NORDHAGEN Jørgen (Team Visma | Lease a Bike) at 2'51"
5. PLAPP Luke (Team Jayco AlUla) at 3'15"
6. TUCKWELL Luke (Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe) at 3'16"
7. CEPEDA Jefferson Alveiro (Movistar Team) at 3'18"
8. WITHEN PHILIPSEN Albert (Lidl - Trek) at 3'20"
9. FORTUNATO Lorenzo (XDS Astana Team) at 3'24"
10. LECERF Junior (Soudal Quick-Step ) at 3'32"