“Tadej plays in another league” - Richard Carapaz a distant best of the rest in Suisse behind “incredible” Tadej Pogacar

Richard Carapaz finished second on the opening stage of the 2026 Tour de Suisse, but even that required a long solo chase behind a rider he admitted was operating on a different level.

Tadej Pogacar blew the race apart around Sondrio with a huge attack from around 70km out, taking stage victory and the first leader’s jersey on his Tour de Suisse debut. Carapaz was the only rider able to move clear in meaningful pursuit, eventually finishing 2:22 down on the world champion, with Andrea Bagioli third at 2:39.

Behind them, the rest of the race was scattered. Primoz Roglic ended the stage almost five minutes behind Pogacar, while several other GC names were already forced into damage control on the first day of the shortened five-stage race.

Speaking to Cycling Pro Net after the finish, Carapaz described a strange race situation once Pogacar and UAE Team Emirates - XRG had turned the opener into something far bigger than a fight for bonus seconds. “It was a bit of a strange situation after the sprint,” said Carapaz. “They went away at the front and I tried to follow, but behind there was no collaboration from anyone.”

With the chase group failing to organise behind Pogacar, Carapaz took his own route through the final part of the stage. His move never looked likely to bring him back to Pogacar, but it was enough to secure second place and separate himself from the rest of the GC contenders. “Then there was a moment on the descent where I opened a small gap, so I decided to continue. It ended up being quite a long ride,” he said.

For Carapaz, the result carried value even with the huge gap to Pogacar. The Ecuadorian has arrived at the Tour de Suisse looking for rhythm and confirmation before the summer’s bigger targets, and his ride at least placed him clearly ahead of the rest of the chasing field. “In the end, I am very happy with the feeling. I think seeing myself up there again is important,” he said. “We know Tadej plays in another league, but this is important for me.”

Carapaz said he had not expected the stage to unfold in quite such an extreme way, but he took encouragement from the way he responded once the race had broken open. “No, I don’t think so,” he said when asked if he expected that kind of scenario. “We knew we had the legs and we were trying to be well positioned at the front in this race, because in the end it was an important test for me. This result is positive and I leave very happy.”

Pogacar’s move left the rest of the field measuring their own race against something that was already out of reach. Carapaz, who spent much of the finale alone between Pogacar and the chasing group, had a clear view of the scale of the performance. “I don’t know. It was an incredible ride,” he said. “I don’t know how many kilometres it was, but it was incredible.”

The GC gaps now leave Carapaz second overall before stage 2, 2:22 behind Pogacar and 17 seconds ahead of Bagioli. With Roglic already at 4:58 and the final mountain stage still to come, Carapaz at least starts the rest of the week as the clearest reference point behind the race leader. “We are there trying to do our part, to follow our own path, and with good feelings,” he said.

For Pogacar, stage 1 already placed the Tour de Suisse firmly in his control. For Carapaz, it was a distant second place, but one that still separated him from everyone else left chasing.