Updated June 21, 2026 12:50PM<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
If Sunday\u2019s display at the Tour de Suisse<\/a> wasn\u2019t enough to worry rivals of Tadej Poga\u010dar<\/a>, there will be a further furrowing of collective brows following indications he\u2019s better than ever before.<\/p>\n \u201cDuring the past training camp in the Sierra Nevada, there is a climb where I tested myself last year,\u201d he said in an interview with l\u2019Equipe<\/a>. \u201cI really managed to set a good time there.<\/p>\n \u201cI remember thinking, \u2018Wow, I don\u2019t think I\u2019ll ever be able to go faster.\u2019<\/p>\n \u201cThis year I decided to give another attempt at the end of the training camp, just for fun. In the end, I was clearly faster than last year.\u201d<\/p>\n Poga\u010dar didn\u2019t name the specific climb, but the take away point is obvious.<\/p>\n \u201cI would say I am stronger than in 2025. Certainly from a training point of view.\u201d<\/p>\n That plus his dominant display in Switzerland will likely stress out his opponents for the Tour.<\/p>\n He won three out of five stages in the race, including Saturday\u2019s time trial, and walloped closest GC rival Richard Carapaz for two minutes on Sunday\u2019s mountain stage.<\/p>\n That saw him end the Tour de Suisse 6:32 in front of Carapaz, a winning margin more typical of a grand tour.<\/p>\n Does he consider himself already in his Tour de Franc<\/a>e shape?<\/p>\n \u201cIt is not much to add anyway,\u201d he told Cycling Pro Net<\/a> and other media on Sunday. \u201cJust ten days, almost two weeks to there. Travel there, all the media stuff and all this. There is not much you can do before that.<\/p>\n \u201cSome small specific training but the shape must be ready.\u201d<\/p>\n That\u2019s music to the ears of his team and his fans, but a siren\u2019s call to others dreaming of yellow.<\/p>\n Poga\u010dar\u2019s successes Sunday earn him his 13th win of the season, and the 121st of his career.<\/p>\n He\u2019s the most successful rider thus far this season, in terms of victories, despite doing only 16 days of competition.<\/p>\n In contrast arch-rival Jonas Vingegaard has 12 wins but from 36 days.<\/p>\n The Dane has followed a completely different program, riding the Giro and then taking a break from racing since.<\/p>\n The Tour will show who got it most correct, but right now Poga\u010dar is happy.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was good,\u201d he said of his sensations on the final day. \u201cThis is how in the Tour we look like probably with this heat and so much elevation before. So it was really good to test the legs, the heart, the lungs everything on the final climb. I went all out and it was really hard, but actually a nice climb.\u201d<\/p>\n For some riding the Tour de Suisse for the first time ever is a little bit of a gamble. It\u2019s three days shorter than the Tour Auvergne Rh\u00f4ne Alpes, previously known as the Dauphin\u00e9, which was Poga\u010dar\u2019s preferred buildup last year.<\/p>\n However it\u2019s thought his choice to race fewer times thus far this season is to avoid the fatigue he felt in the third week of last year\u2019s Tour. Another aim is to set him up for a successful tilt at the Tour-Vuelta-worlds treble.<\/p>\n Is he satisfied the change in approach will work out fine?<\/p>\n \u201cI think my preparation was every year a bit different, but more or less similar,\u201d he answered. \u201cThis year also. I was satisfied with the preparation, we did super good training. We had a lot of time out of home with the teammates. A lot of work has been done.<\/p>\n \u201cI am happy, and I am happy that there are also rewards already before the Tour.\u201d<\/p>\n Just under two weeks remain until the Tour starts in Barcelona.<\/p>\n Poga\u010dar points out the Tour experience actually begins some days beforehand, with teams traveling to the event and doing press conferences.<\/p>\n That leaves seven or eight days to fill prior to travelling.<\/p>\n And while he feels his shape is more or less there, he and the other contenders will still want to get things exactly right.<\/p>\n To that end, he admitted that he is still deciding what to do in the days ahead.<\/p>\n\u2018A lot of work has been done\u2019<\/h2>\n
\u2018My plan collapsed\u2019<\/h2>\n
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