Romain Grégoire won stage 2 of the 2026 Tour de Suisse in Locarno, sprinting to victory from a reduced breakaway after a breathless finale that nearly saw Tadej Pogačar drag the race back together. The Groupama-FDJ United rider came through the final corner in perfect position and beat Marcel Camrubí and Bart Lemmen to the line after the escape survived by just 4 seconds.
Pogačar and Mathias Vacek came desperately close to catching the remnants of the break in the final kilometres, with the world champion working deep into the finale after UAE Team Emirates-XRG had reignited the chase on the last climbs. Vacek followed the late move and finished sixth, with Emiel Verstrynge seventh and Pogačar eighth, all 4 seconds behind Grégoire.
The result did not threaten Pogačar’s overall lead after his dominant stage 1 raid in Sondrio, but it did show that the Tour de Suisse will not simply be a procession behind UAE Team Emirates-XRG. The breakaway had to fight for every second, but Grégoire judged the final better than anyone and took his third WorldTour victory.
Early climbing sparks repeated attacks
Stage 2 started and finished in Locarno, covering 157.7 kilometres on a route that carried one early categorised climb and then a rolling middle section before the punchy finale. The first ascent, Monte Ceneri, came after only around 12 kilometres of racing, giving attackers an immediate opportunity to put pressure on UAE Team Emirates-XRG.
All 136 riders who finished stage 1 took the start, with Pogačar in yellow after his long-range demolition the previous day. He had already built a huge GC margin, but the stage still offered enough terrain for puncheurs, breakaway specialists and opportunistic climbers to believe they could get clear.
The first move contained Paul Lapeira, Alec Segaert, Grégoire, Orluis Aular, Patrick Gamper and Xandro Meurisse. Their lead reached around 40 seconds before Monte Ceneri, but the climb quickly changed the composition of the front of the race. Lenny Martinez bridged across, Movistar also sent Nairo Quintana and Enric Mas forward, and the tempo meant the group kept reshaping.
Louis Vervaeke led over the KOM point, but the race came back together soon after. The first 20 kilometres had already been rapid, and the fight for the day’s break was far from settled.
Fourteen riders form the decisive move
A second attempt formed when Jacopo Mosca and Walter Calzoni went clear, with Lorenzo Rota chasing behind, but that move was also caught. The racing stayed aggressive across the uncategorised climbing that followed, with Julian Alaphilippe among those trying to get across.
Eventually, the peloton accepted a larger move. Fourteen riders formed the break that would define the stage: Verstrynge, Afonso Eulálio, Ewen Costiou, Grégoire, Bauke Mollema, Filippo Zana, Finlay Pickering, Chris Hamilton, Lemmen, Marco Schrettle, Milan Vader, Camrubí, Fred Wright and Alaphilippe.
That was a strong group, but not an immediate GC threat to Pogačar. Pickering was the closest overall, more than 4 minutes down after stage 1, so UAE Team Emirates-XRG had room to control without panic. The peloton slowed once the move had gone, and the gap settled around 1:45 with 100 kilometres remaining.
The break had useful numbers too. Pinarello-Q36.5 had three riders with Vader, Camrubí and Wright, while Groupama-FDJ United had both Costiou and Grégoire. That gave the move enough depth to share the work and keep the peloton honest.
UAE keep the gap in range
Nils Politt and other UAE Team Emirates-XRG riders spent much of the middle section on the front of the peloton. The gap hovered between 1:30 and 3 minutes for a long stretch, never completely out of reach but far enough to keep the break’s hopes alive.
Fred Wright crashed in the break with around 90 kilometres remaining but was able to rejoin. The escape then continued to work well, holding off the UAE-led peloton as the race moved through the flatter middle part of the route.
With 70 kilometres to go, the break’s advantage had grown to around 2:30. UAE were still doing the bulk of the work, but there was little help from other teams. That made the chase a balancing act. They did not need to defend Pogačar’s yellow jersey from the move, but they also did not want to gift the stage away too easily.
Pogačar had suggested before the stage that UAE could ride for Jhonatan Narváez, Brandon McNulty or Felix Großschartner, and the team’s tactics later in the stage reflected that. The stage was not necessarily being chased for Pogačar himself, but he remained the rider capable of changing the race whenever he moved.
Break looks set to contest the stage
With 50 kilometres remaining, the gap was still around 2:50, and the break had stabilised. UAE added Tim Wellens to the chase, while Pogačar looked comfortable in the peloton, chatting with teammates as the break continued to cooperate up the road.
At 30 kilometres to go, the race was approaching the two climbs that would decide the finale: Fanghi, 3.6 kilometres at 7 per cent, and Via Consiglio Mezzano, 1.4 kilometres at 8.9 per cent. The break still had enough time to believe, but the margin was not safe if UAE went all-in.
For a moment, it looked as if UAE might let the break decide the stage. Their chase eased with around 20 kilometres remaining, and the riders up front began thinking about how to win from the group. Grégoire looked well suited to the finale, while Alaphilippe, Verstrynge, Zana, Pickering and the Pinarello-Q36.5 trio all carried different strengths.
But the lull did not last. As the race hit Fanghi, Brandon McNulty lifted the pace behind, and the gap began to fall quickly. Pogačar moved up ominously, and suddenly the break’s advantage was no longer comfortable.
UAE blow up the chase
Pickering opened the attacks from the break on Fanghi, but the group marked each other and remained together. Then Eulálio accelerated, splitting the escape and forcing the strongest riders to respond. Verstrynge tried to get cooperation going, but the break was starting to fracture under pressure from both its own attacks and the chase behind.
UAE Team Emirates-XRG had Pogačar, Narváez and McNulty positioned near the front of the reduced peloton. The world champion himself then began to drive on the descent, reducing the gap further before the Via Consiglio Mezzano.
The aim appeared to be Narváez. UAE changed order onto the final climb, with McNulty leading, Narváez tucked behind and Pogačar close enough to mark any response. Narváez then attacked from the main chase, but Vacek was strong enough to follow. Pogačar marked the Czech rider, creating a three-man move from the peloton.
Narváez could not sustain the pace and pulled the pin, but Pogačar and Vacek kept going. Ahead, the break had been reduced to six riders: Verstrynge, Vader, Grégoire, Zana, Pickering and Lemmen, with Camrubí also making it back into the winning picture before the finale.
Pogačar and Vacek almost make contact
Inside the final 10 kilometres, the race turned into a chase between the surviving breakaway riders and the Pogačar-Vacek pairing. Eulálio was picked up after being dropped from the break, while the leading group ahead tried to maintain enough cooperation to survive.
The gap was down to around 37 seconds with 7 kilometres to go, then roughly 20 seconds as the race entered the final 5 kilometres. Vacek was strong enough to contribute, but he also had to be careful not to simply tow Pogačar to the stage win. That hesitation was understandable, but every second mattered.
The break was not riding smoothly either. The riders up front began attacking each other, marking moves and looking for the right moment. Lemmen made a late acceleration after a lull, but the rest followed. With 2 kilometres to go, the escape still led, but not by enough to feel safe.
Pogačar and Vacek continued to close, cutting the gap to around 11 seconds. For a brief moment, it looked possible that the world champion would complete another outrageous chase. The twisting final roads into Locarno helped the break, and the leaders just about held their nerve.
Grégoire wins the sprint
The final 500 metres began with the break still looking at each other, but Pogačar and Vacek were finally too far back to contest the win. Pickering tried to lift the pace, but the decisive move came through the final corner.
Grégoire hit the front with around 250 metres remaining and carried his speed all the way to the line. Camrubí finished second for Pinarello-Q36.5, with Lemmen third for Team Visma | Lease a Bike and Zana fourth for Soudal Quick-Step. Pickering took fifth, 2 seconds down, after being one of the riders who helped animate the finale.
Vacek crossed sixth, 4 seconds behind Grégoire, with Verstrynge and Pogačar on the same time. Eulálio came in ninth at 9 seconds, while Narváez finished tenth at 32 seconds after his late attack and effort for UAE’s plan.
For Grégoire, it was a second consecutive season with a Tour de Suisse stage win and another sign of how well this race suits his profile. He had to fight to make the break, survive the late climbs, avoid being swallowed by Pogačar, and still find the right sprint after a nervous final kilometre.
Pogačar keeps control despite breakaway win
The stage win went to the break, but Pogačar remains firmly in control of the race overall. His stage 1 advantage was large enough that Grégoire’s win did not affect the yellow jersey fight, and the Slovenian again showed he could decide how the race was ridden in the final 20 kilometres.
What stage 2 did show, though, was that UAE Team Emirates-XRG will not necessarily chase every stage into submission. Their late plan was more about using Narváez as a card and keeping pressure on than simply delivering Pogačar to another victory. When Narváez could not sustain the move, Pogačar still continued the chase and nearly brought it back himself.
Vacek’s ride was another strong sign for Lidl-Trek. He had finished in the first chase group on stage 1, took the young rider’s jersey there, and then had the strength to follow Pogačar in the finale a day later. Even if the stage was gone by a few seconds, that was a useful measure of form.
For the breakaway riders, this was a narrow escape in every sense. They spent much of the day looking as though the stage might be theirs, nearly lost it when UAE lit up the final climbs, and then regained just enough composure for Grégoire to finish it off.
Tour de Suisse 2026 stage 2 result
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Main photo credit: Getty
