Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) delivered one final display of dominance and authority to win stage 5 of the Tour de Suisse in the mountains, with it confirming his overall victory at this race for the first time.
The final survivor from the day's early break, Lenny Martinez (Bahrain Victorious), was agonisingly caught with just 800m to go after taking on much of the final climb solo, but he did manage to hold on for second on the stage as a small consolation prize.
Starting the day with a lead of 4:22 after winning the opening stage and Saturday's time trial, there was never much doubt that Pogačar was going to win the GC on Sunday, the only question was whether he would also win the stage and complete a hat-trick to go with his yellow jersey.
Racing with relative restraint – by his standards – the Slovenian didn't attack until 9km to go on the fourth and final ascent of the Col de la Croix, but once he went, there was nothing anyone could do. He caught and passed all the breakaway riders who had been out front all day long and soloed to the stage victory in Villars-sur-Ollon.
"It was a super hard day," Pogačar said at the finish. "The parcours was really tough, and with the team we did a super good job. It was getting harder and harder every lap that we did, and in the end it was an all-out effort."
