Tadej Pogacar crossed the line 12th on stage 3 of the Tour de Suisse, and for almost any other rider that would pass unnoticed. For Pogacar in 2026, it was the first time all year a result sheet had shown him outside the top 10.
The Slovenian finished safely in the bunch on a storm-hit day to Bad Ragaz, where torrential rain, lightning and soaked roads turned the final chase into one of the grimmest finishes of the race so far. Up front, Jhonatan Narvaez beat Xandro Meurisse in a two-up sprint, giving UAE Team Emirates - XRG another stage victory.
Pogacar’s own position had no impact on the general classification. He remains in yellow, 2:50 clear of Richard Carapaz, with Andrea Bagioli third at 3:07. But 12th place still ended one of the most striking runs of consistency in the peloton this season.
Until Friday’s stage in Switzerland, Pogacar had not finished outside the top 10 in any race or stage he had completed in 2026.
A run that had become almost absurd
Pogacar opened his season with victory at Strade Bianche, then followed it with another win at Milano-Sanremo. He won the Tour of Flanders, finished second at Paris-Roubaix and returned to the top step at Liege-Bastogne-Liege.
At the Tour de Romandie, the same pattern continued. Pogacar was sixth in the prologue, then went 1st, 1st, 4th, 1st and 1st across the road stages, taking the general classification, points classification and mountains classification.
The Tour de Suisse had started in familiar fashion. On stage 1, Pogacar delivered a huge long-range solo around Sondrio and took the race lead immediately. On stage 2, he finished eighth in Locarno after Romain Gregoire and the breakaway narrowly held off the late chase.
Stage 3 finally broke the sequence. Pogacar was never in difficulty, never under GC pressure and never chasing the stage himself, but the number next to his name changed the pattern. Twelfth in Bad Ragaz became his lowest placing of the year.
UAE still win as Pogacar stays safe
The stage had been marked out as the clearest sprint opportunity of the men’s Tour de Suisse, but it never became a clean bunch finish. The early climbing put the fast men under pressure, with Kaden Groves and Casper van Uden both abandoning before the long flat run-in.
Narvaez and Meurisse later emerged as the strongest pair from the attacks, building enough of a gap to force the sprint teams into a long chase. As the weather worsened and the roads towards Bad Ragaz became increasingly treacherous, UAE had two clear priorities: protect Pogacar in yellow and use Narvaez up the road.
Tim Wellens and UAE were visible near the front of the bunch late on, taking speed out of the chase behind their teammate. Narvaez then finished the job, beating Meurisse in the sprint while Magnus Cort led the peloton home for third.
Pogacar crossed the line 12th, ending his top-10 streak but losing nothing in the race that matters most. He still holds the yellow jersey before the stage 4 individual time trial, while UAE leave another chaotic day in Switzerland with the stage win, the overall lead and one of the stranger Pogacar statistics of 2026 finally broken.
Tadej Pogacar’s remarkable 2026 results so far
| Date | Race | Stage / Result | Finish |
| 19.06 | Tour de Suisse | Stage 3 - Bad Ragaz > Bad Ragaz | 12th |
| 18.06 | Tour de Suisse | Stage 2 - Locarno > Locarno | 8th |
| 17.06 | Tour de Suisse | Stage 1 - Sondrio > Sondrio | 1st |
| 03.05 | Tour de Romandie | Stage 5 - Lucens > Leysin | 1st |
| 02.05 | Tour de Romandie | Stage 4 - Broc > Charmey | 1st |
| 01.05 | Tour de Romandie | Stage 3 - Orbe > Orbe | 4th |
| 30.04 | Tour de Romandie | Stage 2 - Rue > Vucherens | 1st |
| 29.04 | Tour de Romandie | Stage 1 - Martigny > Martigny | 1st |
| 28.04 | Tour de Romandie | Prologue - Villars-sur-Glane > Villars-sur-Glane | 6th |
| 26.04 | Liege-Bastogne-Liege | One-day race | 1st |
| 12.04 | Paris-Roubaix Hauts-de-France | One-day race | 2nd |
| 05.04 | Ronde van Vlaanderen | One-day race | 1st |
| 21.03 | Milano-Sanremo | One-day race | 1st |
| 07.03 | Strade Bianche | One-day race | 1st |
Kieran WoodDeputy Editor-in-Chief
Kieran Wood is a sports journalist based in Wales and has been active in journalism since 2022. He regularly contributes to DartsNews.com and CyclingUpToDate.com, where he covers professional cycling and darts. In cycling, his work includes liveblogs from major races, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España, alongside race reports and analysis. He has also conducted interviews with professional riders.
His reporting spans the full racing calendar, from one-day classics to stage races, with a focus on accurate, real-time coverage and clear contextual analysis. For statistics, results, and historical context, he regularly uses resources such as ProCyclingStats. To support reporting on rider activity and training context where relevant, he also references Strava.
In his work, Kieran places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles as new, verified information becomes available.
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