Tadej Pogacar explains Primoz Roglic motivation behind Tour de Romandie triumph but admits to 'pain in the legs' after Florian Lipowitz battle

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Tadej Pogacar said he was inspired to Tour de Romandie glory by compatriot Primoz Roglic, after winning four of five stages to secure a comprehensive victory.

'I always admired this race' - Pogacar on winning Tour de Romandie title

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Pogacar dominated the race as he added another stage race win to his ever-growing palmares.

It was a first success in Romandie for Pogacar, who is a four-time Tour de France winner and also won Milano-Sanremo for the first time this season.

He revealed his intention at the race was to echo the achievements of fellow Slovenian Roglic, who won the Tour of Romandie in 2018 and 2019.

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"It's a World Tour stage race, it's what suits me," Pogacar said. "I always admired the race since I was young, seeing Primoz win many times.

"It was always beautiful to see on TV. I always wanted to come here to experience it, and to win."

Pogacar had to hold off the challenge of Florian Lipowitz in Sunday's fifth stage, surging clear just before the finish line to win by three seconds.

Asked if he was scared by the pressure applied by Lipowitz, Pogacar said: "Not scared. I knew I needed to go all out to the finish line in a hard final.

"When he counter-attacked, it was really impressive, and there was pain in the legs, I must admit.

"We worked a little bit together. I didn't want to work too much in the final because I knew that I need to have a good kick in the end. I had to commit to the finish line but it was really long."

‘Makes it look easy!’ - Pogacar clinches Tour de Romandie title with Stage 5 victory

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Roglic finished third, seven seconds behind Pogacar, who also won the points classification ahead of French sprinter Dorian Godon.

It was a first stage race of the season for the 27-year-old, who was asked if he has the aim of eventually winning every stage race on the calendar.

"Not really," he said. "I don't have Itzulia (Tour of the Basque Country), Tour Down Under, Tour of Poland, there is still a lot of big races left.

"Let's go one by one and see how far we can go."

Giving his thoughts on Romandie as a whole, Pogacar added: "It was really amazing, I think all the kids come throughout the week out of school.

"This was super nice to see, in the weekend also the families with the kids, really nice fans and a lot of signs with my name so it was a pleasure to ride this week in Romandie".

Pogacar will hope he continues to perform with such consistency in the weeks building up to his defence of the Tour de France, which begins on July 4 - live on TNT Sports and HBO Max.

Pogacar added: "Every race is important.

"It's important to win and finish off the job of the team."

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