“Third place behind Tadej and Richard, I think I can be proud”: Andrea Bagioli shines on home roads to claim superb third at Tour de Suisse

Tadej Pogacar made an immediate statement on his Tour de Suisse debut, attacking with around 70 kilometres remaining on stage 1 and riding solo to a dominant victory in Sondrio. The world champion transformed what was expected to be a selective opening stage into a one-man exhibition, leaving the rest of the field fighting for the remaining podium places. Among those who impressed behind him was local favourite Andrea Bagioli, who secured third place on home roads and moved into a promising position in the general classification.

The decisive move came long before most people expected. Pogacar accelerated from the peloton with 70km to go and quickly bridged across to Frederik Dversnes, who had been leading the race alone.

Once the Slovenian reached the front, the stage effectively became a battle for second place. Richard Carapaz was the only rider able to launch a meaningful response, but even the Ecuadorian could do little to reduce the gap.

Behind them, the peloton lost organisation as the deficit continued to grow. Primoz Roglic and the other favourites eventually conceded nearly five minutes, while Pogacar powered to victory by 2:14 over Carapaz.

Bagioli completed the podium a further 15 seconds behind Carapaz after an aggressive ride on roads he knows better than most.

Racing in his hometown region of Sondrio, the Lidl-Trek rider admitted the stage had been one of the most important targets of his week. “I'm super proud,” Bagioli said afterwards. “I told you before the start that it's incredible to be here in front of my friends, my family, and at home.”

“I know these roads super well. I always train here in the summer, and I wanted to do a good stage. I think I did quite well. Okay, it's not a victory, but third place behind Tadej and Richard, I think I can be proud.”

Bagioli revealed that Pogacar's attack came as little surprise after UAE Team Emirates - XRG set a relentless pace on the climbs. “I thought it already on the climb when Politt and then Wellens were pulling, that the pace was really, really high,” he explained. “So I said, ‘Okay, Tadej will go for sure soon.’ And he did it.”

After losing contact with Pogacar's move, Bagioli focused on securing the best possible result among the chasers. Using his knowledge of the descents, he managed to separate himself from the group behind and limit his losses.

“We tried to follow, but the pace was really, really high,” he said. “For me, it was impossible to follow, and we had to do another race for second and third place. I knew the downhill pretty well, so I just gave it a try and it worked. Unfortunately, I didn't catch Richard on the last climb, but I can be proud.”

The Italian now sits third overall after the opening stage and plans to test himself in a general classification role for the remainder of the race. “Now that I'm third, for sure, I will give it a try,” Bagioli said. “For me, it's the first time that I'm doing a GC in a stage race.”

“We'll see in the time trial because it's not my specialty and it's quite long. But first, we think about tomorrow, and then we see day by day.”