Tadej Pogačar solos to victory at Tre Valli Varesine

Returning to racing in his trade team rainbow jersey, Tadej Pogačar won his first race for UAE Team Emirates-XRG since coming away victorious from both the World Championships and the European Championships. The 27-year-old rode to victory at Tre Valli Varesine, with a smart attack guiding him clear of his rivals with 22km to ride.

As he has made his trademark, the Slovenian carried his solo attack to the line, picking up UAE Team Emirates-XRG’s 91st victory of the 2025 campaign. Behind Pogačar, the world champion’s teammate Isaac del Toro produced a handy ride to claim eighth place across the line for the Emirati squad.

Both Del Toro and Pogačar went up the road as part of an elite group with a little under 30km to ride, before Pogačar attacked on the descent of the Montello climb with 22km to go. From here, the Slovenian extended his advantage to over a minute, and would not be caught before the line.

It is Pogačar’s second victory at Tre Valli Varesine, having promised to return to the race after he was unable to defend his title last season, with the race cancelled due to heavy rain. Tuesday afternoon proved to be a winning return for the UAE Team Emirates-XRG rider, who looks in fine form ahead of the season’s final Monument, Il Lombardia, on Saturday.

Pogačar: “The plan was to wait for the final lap and arrive in a good place. Tudor decided to go super deep, super early, and they opened the race from far. Del Toro and me went on the attack on one of the climbs.

“It was a really good situation, we were in the front group, we knew that no one would work with us too much, so when I saw that I had my gap on the downhill, I pushed after the roundabouts on the flat. I knew that even if I killed myself, there is still Isaac in the back who could win the race from the group or even solo. So it was a really good situation and we made it.

“Obviously, it is a long season now, but Lombardia is this big goal and [I have] extra motivation to do it super good. Also, it is a Monument, it is one of the biggest one-day races in the calendar, so the legs should be good for Saturday.”

Earlier in the day, a five-rider breakaway had ventured up the road and established a gap which was slowly but surely whittled down by the peloton behind. Once this group, containing the likes of AJ August (Ineos Grenadiers) and Lorenzo Milesi (Movistar), had been brought within reach, it was only the latter who was able to stay out at the front.

With Milesi pushing on, August’s Ineos Grenadiers teammate Egan Bernal jumped to the front, and the Colombian combined with the Movistar rider until Quinn Simmons (Lidl-Trek) joined their ranks. At this point, some 34km remained of the day’s racing, and the peloton had been put under intense pressure by the pace-setting of UAE Team Emirates-XRG’s Rafał Majka.

The Polish national champion had brought the leading trio to within an arm’s length, and sensing his moment to take advantage, Del Toro attacked from the bunch. As Paul Lafay of Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale hopped onto the Mexican’s wheel, Pogačar jumped across from behind. Together, the three riders made a quartet alongside Afonso Eulálio of Bahrain Victorious, who had made a speculative move just minutes earlier.

With Pogačar and Del Toro combining to drag the chasing group across, Bernal, Milesi and Simmons were caught on the final ascent of the Montello climb, which topped out with 28km to ride.

It quickly became apparent that this seven-rider lead group had the potential to contest the day’s honours, and Pogačar was to be recognised as the race favourite.

Knowing that he would be a marked man in the finale, Pogačar made a clever acceleration on a descent some 22km from the finish line in Varese. It took some seconds before the rest of the group, minus his teammate Del Toro, began to work together, and amidst this hesitation, the game was up. Pogačar pressed ahead and would not be caught before the line.

As Pogačar powered his way towards the finish, the Slovenian’s time gap exceeded one minute, and those behind began to battle it out for the minor honours. Having helped his teammate towards victory, Del Toro surfed the wheels before sprinting to eighth place at the finish.

For Pogačar, it was a perfect return to racing for his trade team, having spent the last two weekends winning the road races at both the World Championships and the European Championships for Slovenia. Now a two-time world champion, Pogačar will look to defend his crown at Il Lombardia on Saturday afternoon.

Tre Valli Varesine 2025 results:

1. Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) 4:34:28

2. Albert Withen Philipsen (Lidl-Trek) +45″

3. Julian Alaphilippe (Tudor Pro Cycling) s.t

8. Isaac del Toro (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) s.t