Tadej Pogacar debuts with UAE Team at 2026 Tour de Suisse

Slovenian double Tour de France champion Tadej Pogacar will ride the Tour de Suisse for the first time, leading the UAE Team Emirates‑XRG squad. After a high‑altitude training block in the Sierra Nevada, he said, “Training has gone very well… I’m arriving at the Tour de Suisse feeling strong and motivated.” The five‑day edition runs from 17 to 21 June, starting in Sondrio and including stages in Locarno, Bad Ragaz, Aarburg (a 23.7 km time trial) and a mountain finish at Villars‑sur‑Ollon. Organisers have introduced a new format in which the men’s and women’s races are held on the same routes on the same days, reducing the budget by about two million francs.

The UAE roster around Pogacar features Brandon McNulty, Felix Großschartner, Domen Novak, Tim Wellens, Nils Politt and Jhonatan Narváez. Other headline riders include Dutchman Mathieu van der Poel, who aims to win a stage despite a recent back problem, and Primož Roglič. British rider Tom Pidcock withdrew after a mild viral infection, citing the need for extra recovery; his team plans to target the MoraBanc Classica in Andorra on 21 June instead. The race will be streamed live on RTL platforms. The event serves as a key test for the riders’ form ahead of the Tour de France, which starts on 4 July.