Dorian Godon took his second win of the 2026 Men’s Tour de Romandie, timing his sprint perfectly in Orbe to deny Tadej Pogačar a hat-trick of stage victories. The Ineos Grenadiers rider came around Finn Fisher-Black in the final metres after a hard day that gradually shifted from breakaway control to a selective sprint finish. Valentin Paret-Peintre was third, with Pogačar fourth, while the UAE Team Emirates-XRG rider still held the overall lead at the end of the stage.
Stage 3 of the Men’s Tour de Romandie was always likely to be awkward rather than explosive, but the route around Orbe still offered enough climbing to make the race uncomfortable. The first climb came only 7.5km into the stage, which made the opening phase aggressive and unsettled as riders tried repeatedly to force a move clear.
Eventually, a sizeable break formed featuring Georg Steinhauser, Sam Oomen, Damiano Caruso, Lorenzo Germani, Josh Kench, Rémy Rochas and Steff Cras. With Steinhauser the best placed on general classification at 2:20 down, UAE Team Emirates-XRG had little interest in giving the group too much freedom, and the gap was kept around the two-minute mark for much of the day.
The break survives a scare
The race might have been controlled, but it was not calm. With 67km to go the breakaway hit trouble on a roundabout, where almost everyone except Cras and Caruso went down in a low-speed crash. The incident split the move and briefly knocked the rhythm out of it, especially for Rochas, who had the hardest chase back through the convoy.
That crash cut into the escapees’ advantage, yet the break did not immediately fold. By the time they crossed the line for the final lap they still held 1:50, and once Rochas returned the gap stretched back out to 2:20. It gave the attackers a second chance, but it also meant they had spent more energy than they would have wanted before the biggest climb of the day.
Caruso goes long on the Col du Mollendruz
The race turned properly on the category 2 Col du Mollendruz. Rochas was the first to crack, then Germani followed, and as Damiano Caruso increased the pressure only Cras could initially stay close. Steinhauser then fought back to Cras, but by then Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe had raised the pace behind and the margin was being cut sharply.
Caruso crested the climb alone, 25 seconds ahead of Steinhauser and Cras, with one minute back to the reduced Pogačar group and 32km still to race. It briefly looked as though the veteran Italian might have timed his move well, but the descent and the run-in to Orbe became a straight fight between the remnants of the break and a bunch that could see the stage coming back into reach.
The catch comes late, but not late enough
On the long descent, Steinhauser and Cras closed back towards Caruso, forming a lead trio again with 17km to go. The problem for them was that the peloton had found momentum. What had been a promising move quickly became a race against the clock as the gap dropped to 30 seconds and then to 13 seconds approaching the last 5km.
Lidl-Trek and Ineos Grenadiers were the key teams in the final chase. They brought the leaders back with 2.5km remaining, ending the break’s hopes just before the finish and setting up one last tactical phase as the bunch reorganised for the uphill run to the line.
Godon gets his revenge in Orbe
Movistar tried to pre-empt the expected sprint once the catch had been made, but Ineos never really lost their grip on the finale. Godon had already won the prologue earlier in the race and this time he delivered in a different way, surviving the climbing and then producing the fastest finish from the reduced group.
He opened his sprint early, Fisher-Black briefly came past him, but once Godon got on top of the gear he drove back by with real force to take the stage. It was another high-quality win in a field packed with punchy finishers, and one that underlined how strong he has looked all week.
Pogačar missed out on the stage win this time, finishing fourth rather than adding a third consecutive victory, but it was still a solid day for the race leader. He remained in control of the Men’s Tour de Romandie overall standings, leading Florian Lipowitz by 17 seconds and Lenny Martinez by 26 seconds heading into the final two mountainous stages.
Men’s Tour de Romandie 2026 Stage 3 result
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Main photo credit: Getty
