Primož Roglič will take on Slovenian compatriot Tadej Pogačar at the Tour de Suisse this week, as he looks to complete the set of winning all seven of cycling’s most prestigious one-week stage races.
Having already won Paris-Nice (2022), Tirreno-Adriatico (2019, 2023), Volta a Catalunya (2023, 2025), Itzulia Basque Country (2018, 2021), Tour de Romandie 2018, 2019), and Critérium du Dauphiné (2022, 2024) in his illustrious career, it’s only the Swiss race which Roglič is missing from the major one-week set.
It’s the 36-year-old’s debut at the longstanding event, which has been cut down to five stages for 2026, and he arrives from altitude camp in Sierra Nevada as the outright leader for Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe.
“The concept of the Tour de Suisse is totally different than in the past,” said Sports Director Sven Vanthourenhout. “Before, it was a much longer stage race. Now it is only five days, with pretty short stages and one time trial on day four.
“We have Primož as our leader. We have Finn Fisher-Black and Vlasov as guys who are able to go for a stage win, and the other guys will be there to support.”
Winning all seven is a goal Pogačar shared with his compatriot, saying in 2024 that “I want to tick them all off” while he dominated in Catalunya. By winning Romandie earlier this season, Pogačar is up to five out of the seven, with a win in Suisse potentially leaving him with only Itzulia Basque Country to win in the prestigious one-week arena.
Roglič, in typical Roglič fashion, hasn’t been firing on all cylinders so far in 2026, now in the latter years of his career, but Red Bull have said ” the focus is clear” on him chasing the GC in Switzerland.
So far in 2026, he’s raced mostly in support roles for Red Bull’s other GC leaders, finishing fifth at Tirreno-Adriatico, 16th in the Basque Country, and 18th in Romandie.
Roglič isn’t supposed to be making up part of Red Bull’s Tour de France squad, as Remco Evenepoel and Florian Lipowitz lead. He’s instead choosing to focus all his attention on winning a record-fifth Vuelta a España title, which would move him ahead of Roberto Heras, with whom he shared the record at the moment.
The Tour de Suisse is the only other race on his provisional calendar for the moment, though, so last-minute additions are certainly possible.
Racing in Switzerland actually kicks off across the Italian border on Wednesday in Sondrio, before concluding in Villars-sur-Ollon back in the host nation on Sunday, after four tricky road stages, a vital individual time trial, and a final stage that takes in three reps up the Col de la Croix, before the only summit finish of the race.
“The first two stages are punchy stages where we have to be attentive and make sure we don’t lose time with Primož. That will be really important,” said Vanthourenhout.
“Stage 3 can be a breakaway stage, but it can also be a reduced bunch sprint. There we hope, with Finn Fisher-Black, to try to go for a good result and maybe a stage win if it is possible.
“Day five is the queen mountain stage, and it is a really, really hard one. It is also on a circuit, which is new.”
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