The China Mail - Pogacar wins final stage to seal Tour of Switzerland success

After a cat-and-mouse chase up the final climb to Villars-sur-Ollon at the end of a brutal 152km-long mountainous stage, the last of the race, Pogacar gradually ate into the Frenchman's 1min 30sec lead.

For a while, it looked like it would be touch and go, but Pogacar picked up the pace in the last couple of kilometres and with one kilometre left, his success looked inevitable.

Just 200m later, he sauntered past Martinez and came home to win by seven seconds.

"It was really good to test the legs, the lungs on the climb, it was a really nice climb for that," said the 27-year-old Slovenian.

Martinez said he was disappointed and rued Pogacar's insatiable will to win.

"We tried but he was just too strong in the end," said the 22-year-old, who had been part of an initial 11-man breakaway that broke clear with about 140km to ride.

"Tadej wins a lot of races and he keeps wanting to keep winning, so it's difficult. I knew he wasn't going to let me win."

It was Pogacar's first victory at the Tour of Switzerland -- in his first appearance -- and means that he has now won six of the seven most historic week-long stage races.

Having also won the Tour of Romandie in his first participation earlier this season, the only one he has yet to win is the Tour of the Basque Country -- where he was third in 2021 and sixth two years earlier.

Pogacar has seemed on a mission this season to tick off the few remaining major races he had yet to win, claiming Milan-San Remo glory in March and then coming close to winning Paris-Roubaix in April, when he was pipped by Wout van Aert.

He has been in ominous form this week, laying down a marker ahead of his bid for a record-equalling fifth Tour de France victory next month.

His overall margin of victory ahead of Ecuador's Richard Carapaz, 6:32, was simply stunning and will leave new Giro d'Italia champion Jonas Vingegaard with much to ponder at the Grande Boucle.

Pogacar has 13 wins from just 16 race days this year compared to seven from 36 for Vingegaard, who is himself in the form of his life having won all three of his races, triumphing at Paris-Nice and the Tour of Catalonia before the Giro.

Dutchman Bart Lemmen finished third in the stage from the breakaway just over a minute and half behind Pogacar, while Carapaz held onto his second place overall as he came home seventh at 2min.

Czech Mathias Vacek came home 12th to finish third overall with Norway's Tobias Foss fourth.

X.Gu--ThChM