Tadej Pogacar wins the Tour de Suisse in style by taking the final stage
VILLARS-SUR-OLLON, Switzerland: Tadej Pogacar warmed up for next month’s Tour de France with a dominant victory in the Tour de Suisse on Sunday, and the cycling star did so in flamboyant style by winning the fifth and final stage. The 27-year-old Slovenian is in ominous form heading into the July 4-26 Tour, where he’ll try to win the showcase race for the fifth time. Pogacar won the opening stage of the Tour de Suisse, secured a 1-second victory over rival Mathieu van der Poel in the time trial on Saturday and won stage 5 on Sunday. Pogacar caught Frenchman Lenny Martinez about 800 meters near the end of the final climb of the 151.1-kilometer (94-mile) trek to Villars-sur-Ollon. “It was a super hard day,” Pogacar said. “The parcours (route) was really tough, and with the team we did a super good job.” In the overall standings, Pogacar finished 6 minutes, 32 seconds ahead of Ecuadorian Richard Carapaz and 6:53 clear of Czech rider Mathias Vacek. Stellar season Pogacar secured a dominant win at the six-day Tour de Romandie last month, after strong performances in the one-day classics.