Top 5 FAVOURITES Tour de Romandie 2026 - Can Tadej Pogacar Win the race on debut?

Hello everyone and welcome to another video here on the Cycling Dane Exo channel and today we're looking at the Tour de Romandie. The Tour de Romandie has long been one of cycling's most revealing early season battlegrounds. It's a race where form is tested, weaknesses are exposed and potential Grand Tour winners sometimes win. Since its first edition in 1947, Romandie has built a reputation for shaping the season ahead. Legends like Eddie Merckx used it as a proving ground while more recently riders like Chris Froome and Primoz Roglic have turned strong performances into Tour de France dominance. It's also a race that rewards completeness. Climbers must time trial and time trialists must survive the mountains. And for 2026 this field is definitely stacked so we're going to look through the biggest names and who's going to win. But before we start make sure to hit the like button, subscribe to the channel here on the Cycling Dane Exo channel if you haven't already and why not check out our podcasts as well over on Spotify where we have some episodes exclusive for the podcast. First on the list is Soudal Quick-Step's Mont-Mont-Two stage winner of last year and that is Valentin Panapantra. The Frenchman has been able to benefit of the vacuum left by Remco Venepoel in the Soudal Quick-Step team as he has had some decent results in 2026. Early on in Paris-Nice he was very strong finishing 12th overall but the highlight there was the second place on stage 5 behind Jonas Wingo before heading to the Vuelta a Catalunya where Panapantra managed to put in a very strong performance throughout the week and even surpassing Remco Venepoel in the overall standings finishing fourth overall. This will be his first appearance at the Tour de Romandie since 2022 but will hope to build on his Vuelta a Catalunya form as he has his eyes set for the bigger prize of the Tour de France once again. Soudal Quick-Step are definitely going to be an interesting side to follow. Next on the list is Ineos Grenadiers with Oscar Onley who has been enjoying a very successful year with the team. Early on in the Vuelta a Algarve he was up there in the two hilly finishes first on stage two where he missed out on the victory and then on stage five where he came even closer just being pipped to the win by Juan Ayuso but ultimately finishing fourth overall and unfortunately had bad luck in Paris-Nice but was able to be up there somewhat in Catalunya with a 12th place overall so he will be hoping to build on this form in Romandie and he will look to improve on his result from last year where he finished 16th overall and this is all in the theme of preparing himself as well for the Tour de France. Third on the list is a two-pronged attack from Bahrain-Victorious. They're two young superstars of Lenny Martinez and Antonio Tiberi both of whom have been looking good in different parts of the season. Lenny Martinez looked good early on recently finishing eighth in La Fleche also managing to get a strong podium in the Vuelta a Catalunya where he was really showing himself and even a fifth place in Paris-Nice where on the final stage he managed to follow Jonas Vingol and beat the Dane in the sprint. Last year in this race Lenny Martinez was very strong coming close to a stage win and then winning the following stage getting the leaders jersey but ultimately losing that jersey on the final time trial to Joao Almeida which was absolutely heartbreaking. On the flip side his teammate Antonio Tiberi has never had success in the Tour de Romandie but has showed some good results early on in 2026. In the Tour of Valencia he was very strong battling with Remco Venepoel on the final Queen stage and in the UAE Tour he did one better by taking a stage win and finishing second overall but since has not broken into a top 10 in the following races so it is probably Lenny Martinez that will be leading the team here. Before we come to the final two just some other riders of note Gorg Steinerhauser was very strong in Paris-Nice finishing third there or equally maybe we will see the resurgence of David Goddoux or this Melissa Bikes super talent of Jürgen Nordhagen who was recently on the podium in Ogron Camino will also look to challenge the top steps of the podium. Second on the list is the double threat from Red Bull Bora-Hansgrohe with Florian Liepovitz and Primoz Roglic linking up again like they did at the Tour de France 2025. This is Roglic's first appearance at the race since 2019 when he won his second edition of this race and in 2026 he's had a bit of a quiet start by his standards with his best result being a fifth place in Torino. Florian Liepovitz will most likely be the leader of the team who instantly finished third place in his first appearance at the race in 2024 and this year the German has looked very good being part of the Mallorca team time trial victory with Remco Winnepel then heading to the Vuelta algarve where he did ride where he did have a solid performance finishing eighth overall and on the final stage being in a very long breakaway with Kevin Vauclain. Then Liepovitz was very strong in the Vuelta a Catalunya being up there finishing third and in the Tour of the Basque Country going toe to toe with Paul Sixas and ending the race once again on the podium. So Florian Liepovitz as we know a very strong climber and this race should suit him down to the tee and with the confidence he's been building in the last year this will absolutely be a stern test for him. Before we get to the first rider on the list why not subscribe to the channel and do check out the Cycling Dane channel as well where we have some good stuff this week as well. First on the list and surprise to nobody is the world champion Tadej Pogacar who will be on his debut edition of the Tour de Romandie with one goal in mind to add yet another world tour race to his illustrious career and last time he was in Switzerland he won his first world championships title in Zurich in 2024. Nevertheless in 2026 his race calendar has been somewhat light but when he has raced he's been nothing short of dominant. It began with Stradivianchi with a strong 79 kilometer solo attack to take the victory ahead of Paul Sixas. At Milan Sanremo the pressure was on and despite a late crash he was ever the aggressor attacking on the Trapresa, dropping Matrovanapol and being alone with Tom Pitcock in the end and out sprinting the Yorkshireman this was his fourth out of the five monuments for him to win and here's what Pogacar said. Yeah I don't know because uh yeah Tom is really really fast guy uh we all know this he's punchy he's fast and uh he looks really in shape so I was a bit afraid uh when uh yeah uh when he let me go first and yeah I was waiting as as far as long but I also know that I cannot wait too long because uh he has better kick than me probably and uh but yeah um in the end was I was uh surprised in the end was really close and chapeau to him yeah. Then his second race the Tour of Flanders after a day of relentless pressure he delivered the decisive blow on the final ascent of the Haudenosaunee securing his third title of Tour of Flanders and etching his name amongst the race's most successful riders in a record time as well and in Roubaix he did have bad luck early on with a puncture but was up there towards the front pushing the pressure with Wout van Aert yet again being very strong but ultimately in the sprint the Belgian got the better of him and Pogacar once again very close but just not there but an impressive second place in Roubaix and then at Liege-Bastogne-Liege we don't really know what's going to happen because this video is before that but I will assume that he probably has just attacked away at Lavadou dropped everyone and winning his fourth title of Liege-Bastogne-Liege if that comes true I'm sure we won't be surprised but Tadej Pogacar as world champion will look to do something very impressive here in Tour de Romandie it's a profile that fits him all profiles fits him and with U18 members bringing a very strong team there's really nothing that looks to be challenging Pogacar in this course and this is his first of two trips to Switzerland with him also going to the Tour de Suisse later on it will be a great first stage race for him in 2026 and the question might just be how many victories will he be taking throughout the week but with that that's basically it for this video make sure to hit the like button subscribe to the channel if you haven't already and do let me know who you think is going to be joining Tadej Pogacar on the podium or do you think someone else is going to be winning this race but with that thank you for watching and I will see you around