2026 Tour de Romandie Stage 1 Results & Recap
Stage 1 of the 2026 Tour de Romandie is in the books. The final results and standings are below, followed by our recap of how the race unfolded.
Race Recap
All the predictions prior to this stage were for a Tadej Pogačar (UAD) victory and the world champion duly delivered on his first-ever road stage appearance in this race in Martigny, adding the yellow leader's jersey for good measure.
However, forecasts that the Slovenian superstar would blow all of his rivals away on the first-category climb towards the back end of the stage and solo home proved mistaken, as Florian Lipowitz (RBH), Lenny Martinez (TBV) and Jørgen Nordhagen (TVL) finished right on his heels to maintain the suspense in the overall contest.
The stage began with three loops of a circuit based on Martigny and the 3rd-category La Rasse climb. A break of 7 riders went clear on the first lap, building up a lead of close to 4 minutes.
Their lead was gradually reduced on the third lap, after which the route looped out of Martigny in a different direction to take in the 1st-category Orvonnaz climb. Alexy Faure-Prost (TPP) was the last of the seven escapees to be reeled in, the Frenchman's sortie ending on the early ramps of the climb as Pogačar's teammates set a blistering pace and Pogačar blasted by.
For a few moments, it appeared that the world champion would leave the whole field in his wake, but first Primož Roglič (RBH) and then Martinez bridged up to him. Although Roglič didn't last the pace for long, his teammate Lipowitz soon replaced him up front.
This trio crossed the climb a few seconds ahead of Nordhagen, who chased them all of the way down the descent, then bridged up to the leaders just after the road reached the floor of the Rhône Valley.
A group of 13 coalesced behind this quartet, Roglič and other GC favorites among them, including Luke Plapp (JAY), Antonio Tiberi (TBV) and Carlos Rodríguez (IGD). Riding into a headwind towards the finish, this baker's dozen cut their deficit from a minute to 20 seconds, but didn't manage to get back on terms.
Up front, Nordhagen vainly tried to jump clear of his rivals coming into the turn to final straight, but Pogačar flashed by on his left and Martinez on his right. The Frenchman had nothing left, though, and Pogi streaked away to win by four bike lengths – a good margin, but far less than most had imagined. This race is far from over yet.
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