"I can’t perform miracles": Jarno Widar best among the rest behind Pogacar in Tour de Suisse queen stage
Cycling
Jarno Widar must've imagine his debut professional season to go slightly differently, but the young Belgian's extreme talent is undeniable after put in once again an excellent ride at Tour de Suisse queen stage, losing only to Tadej Pogacar, when we exclude riders in the breakaway.
Widar's season has been long halted by a knee injury, but eventually the Lotto-Intermarché starlet made his racing return this month in Switzerland. And it's clear that Widar was excited to get going from his sixth place at GP Gippingen, a warm-up race for Tour de Suisse.
This year with a new five-day format, the race could've been decided at any moment, and Tadej Pogacar did not wait any further than until the first steep slopes on stage 1 to blow the peloton into pieces. Unfortunately for Widar, he was caught up in the crossfire and fell out of the general classification - his big goal - completely.
"Looking at the whole week, I might have failed my exam," Widar stated clearly to Sporza. "When it was already clear in the opening stage that I wouldn't be competing for the general classification, I focused my sights entirely on this final stage. In yesterday's time trial, I deliberately saved myself a bit."
Throw everything on last stage
Then the focus shifted to the race's queen stage 5 with two Col de la Croix ascents. There, Widar hung on with the best climbers such as Richard Carapaz or Enric Mas, and the out-punched every rider in his group to claim a fourth place - beaten only by Tadej Pogacar and two rider from early breakaway (Lenny Martinez & Bart Lemmen).
This result was a source of satisfaction to the 20-year-old, despite a bitter feeling from missed chance to test himself as a GC rider with Vuelta in mind later this summer.
"For today, I give myself an 8 out of 10. I had hoped to be able to test myself more for the general classification, but unfortunately, I can’t perform miracles. I couldn’t do an altitude training camp yet and I hadn’t adapted to the heat either."
The final stage played out in a rather controlled mannered, as compared to the erratic opening stage which saw Tadej Pogacar deliver a 70-kilometer solo. A strong group of roughly 10 climbers got up the road, and held a tight lead over peloton the entire day, but without notable accelerations in the pack.
In this state of affairs, the peloton arrived to the foot of final summit to Villars-sur-Ollon, where race leader Pogacar immediately turned up the heat with a swift acceleration, leaving no room for response to his rivals.
Widar immediately saw that Pogacar's pace was unbearable and adopted a more mature approach:
"When Pogacar attacked, everyone tried to follow him, but I immediately realized that I had to set my own pace. I knew I would blow myself up now if I went over my limit. I still need to check my values, but I never really struggled all day. In the end, I went all out."
Widar's next race could be the Tour of Austria as a bridge between Tour de Suisse and his Spanish block in August with Clasica San Sebastian, Vuelta a Burgos and culminating at the Vuelta a Espana.
Ondrej ZhasilCycling Journalist
Ondřej Zhasil is a cycling journalist at CyclingUpToDate and has been part of the team since 2023. He is based in Ostrava, the third-largest city in the Czech Republic, and covers professional cycling across the main UCI competitions, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España. A key focus of his work is startlist analysis and pre-race coverage, where he examines team selections, rider line-ups, and tactical scenarios ahead of major events.
Alongside WorldTour coverage, Ondřej has developed specific expertise in junior cycling and in racing across East Asia, including competitions in China and Japan. He also maintains a broad working knowledge of other disciplines and levels, including cyclocross, while continuing to expand his understanding of mountain bike racing.
Ondřej holds a bachelor’s degree in Mathematics and Physics, which supports his analytical, data-driven approach to performance and race analysis. In his reporting, he regularly uses ProCyclingStats for results, statistics, and historical context. He places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles promptly when new, verified information becomes available.
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- lol yeah. this is a good onemij12-11-2026
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- and don't forget Pidcock's departure. maybe he will never win a GT, but he knows how to light up a race.mij12-11-2026
- Bingo...I was going to say a 12 year obsessed Pogi fan girlie ! Like she's chasing a teen boy band! All glossy eyed about tadej!frieders312-11-2026
- That stint in the Pink was so good. If memory serves he struggled with the champagne cuz he'd never been on the podium before. I feel like it gave him some self-belief, and yeah - then the move to Visma to be one of their lieutenants has really brought him to the best version of himself.wrsty12-11-2026
- So, you never really compared Paul Seixas with his main rival Isaac Del Toro why jump to Pogačar? They've (Paul & Isaac) raced together here and there, and they've both shared in wins and losses, I think they should be compared to each other, even with Vingegaard and Remco first before even touching Pogačar. From your writing it's like he's better than Vingegaard, Remco and Del Toro already that his main target is now Pogačar 🤔Sadick11-11-2026
- gee i hope its a minor injury. a great rider and ambassador for the sport. get well soon Lucinda.
Davide11-11-2026 - some of lidl-treks retention and recruiting has been puzzling in the mens and womens teams.Davide11-11-2026
- Yeah his ride at World's was unreal. Over 6 W/kg for over an hour and a half...he single handedly destroyed the break.DAS11-11-2026
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