On Sunday’s conclusion to the 79th Tour de Romandie, Tadej Pogačar added its crown to his five Grand Tour titles and wins in Tirreno-Adriatico, Paris-Nice, Volta a Catalunya and the Critérium du Dauphiné. The world champion now has five Grand Tours and ten WorldTour stage race championships on his palmares. He won four out of the five stages, something Ferdi Kübler last did in 1951. Oakville, ON’s Michael Leonard moved up one spot on GC to 17th.
The Course
The final day contained a few ripples on the way to the race’s conclusion on Cat. 1 Leysin, 14.3 km of 5.9 percent.
The day’s octet of fugitives contained two Red Bull riders. It held only a 42-second gap over the peloton by the start of the Leysin climb. Red Bull’s Finn Fisher-Black was the last escapee standing, submitting 6.6 km to the line.
With 3.2 km to climb, Lipowitz kicked it all off. Pogačar followed and then tried to shake the German loose.
As soon as Primož Roglič showed up in the final kilometre, his Slovenian compatriot launched to take his fourth stage.
The WorldTour’s next round is the 109th Giro d’Italia starting on Friday.
79th Tour de Romandie, Stage 5
1) Tadej Pogačar (Slovenia/UAE-Emirates) 4:18:52
2) Florian Lipowitz (Germany/Red Bull) +0:03
3) Primož Roglič (Slovenia/Red Bull) +0:07
23) Michael Leonard (Canada/EF Education-Easypost) +1:37
79th Tour de Romandie GC
1) Tadej Pogačar (Slovenia/UAE-Emirates) 20:05:42
2) Florian Lipowitz (Germany/Red Bull) +0:42
3) Lenny Martinez (France/Bahrain-Victorious) +2:44
17) Michael Leonard (Canada/EF Education-Easypost) +7:47