The curtain falls on the Tour de Suisse with an unavoidable takeaway for the WorldTour peloton: Tadej Pogacar is in unfathomable form, and his absolute command of the Swiss race is a chilling prelude for his rivals ahead of the Tour de France. The Slovenian star’s performance hardens his status as July’s top favourite, thanks to a condition that seems to have no ceiling.

That was the verdict from Juan Larra, Javier Rampe and Jorge Borreguero in a discussion of our colleagues at CiclismoAlDia, where all three underlined the complete dominance of the UAE Team Emirates XRG leader throughout the Swiss event.

“It’s no longer surprising,” noted Javier Rampe when assessing the Slovenian’s level. Paradoxically, what truly stands out now is when Pogacar seems to hold back or doesn’t impose a crushing superiority on his rivals.

The race was virtually decided from day one. On the opening stage around Sondrio, Pogacar launched one of those attacks that are fast becoming his signature. He attacked with about 70 kilometres to go and no one could respond. Beyond the spectacle, the move once again exposed the huge psychological impact he exerts on the peloton.

According to the analysts, when Pogacar attacks, it triggers not only a physical selection but a mental one. Rival teams appear unable to mount an effective chase, either because of accumulated fatigue or because morale is instantly sapped by the sense that the pursuit will be futile.

For Rampe, Pogacar has reached a point where his victories have stopped being surprising. “We’re watching a contemporary legend of cycling,” he summed up, arguing that what’s truly striking today is not that he wins, but those rare moments when he seems to save energy or refrains from exerting total dominance.

The first stage of the Swiss round was, in the CiclismoAlDía writers' view, the clearest example. The UAE Team Emirates - XRG leader attacked with around 70 kilometers to go near Sondrio and nobody could follow. Beyond the result, Rampe wanted to highlight the spectacle the Slovenian delivered.

“I’m very critical of the critics,” he said, defending this kind of offensive racing. In his view, when a rider dares to attack so far from the line there should be an organized reaction behind, something that’s not happening now. For Rampe, Pogacar’s dominance is not only physical but psychological: rivals seem completely demoralized the instant the Slovenian accelerates.

That superiority showed in the general classification. Rampe highlighted in particular the gap over Richard Carapaz, one of the few able to offer any resistance. The Ecuadorian finished almost six and a half minutes down on the winner in just five stages, a margin that led the commentator to pose a stark Tour de France question: how much time could the competition end up conceding over three weeks of racing?

Another standout moment of the week came in the individual time trial. When everything pointed to a win for Mathieu van der Poel, Pogacar appeared to take it by barely three tenths. For Rampe, that ride carried special weight.

The journalist believes the Slovenian tackled the time trial with an extra spark of motivation, mindful of how crucial these efforts are in Tour prep. “Tadej’s morale was sky high and he wanted that stage,” he explained, convinced it was one of the days he truly emptied the tank during the race.

Even so, the most striking image for Rampe arrived on the queen stage. The final haul up to Villars-sur-Ollon once again revealed a devastating Pogacar, reeling in one rider after another ahead of him.

His description of the moment he caught Nairo Quintana, up the road after a fine ride, was especially vivid. “He went by him almost peeling the stickers off his bike,” he said, making clear it wasn’t a dig at the Colombian but praise for the sheer power Pogacar is producing.

And his numbers impress: 13 wins, including general classifications, in just 16 days of racing this season.

With such a tally, the debate now seems less about who can beat Pogacar than who can even get close. The main rival will presumably be Jonas Vingegaard, although questions over Giro fatigue and the Slovenian’s extraordinary superiority all season suggest the defending champion starts with a sizeable edge.

The analysis closed with a blunt reflection on the upcoming Tour de France. For Javier Rampe, anything other than a Pogacar victory by a considerable margin would be a major surprise. At 27, the Slovenian stands on the brink of matching Miguel Indurain’s historic haul of five yellow jerseys. And, in the analyst’s view, he remains intent week after week on smashing whatever limits we imagine on a mountain.