Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates XRG) narrowly prevailed over Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Premier Tech) in the 23.8-kilometer individual time trial around Aarburg, thus winning Stage 4 of the Tour de Suisse. Only 0.04 seconds separated the two at the finish. Tobias Foss (Netcompany INEOS) finished third, 6 seconds behind.
On the fast course, several riders initially set excellent benchmark times. Tim Wellens (UAE Team Emirates XRG) temporarily took the lead by a wide margin, before Van der Poel lowered his best time to 26:37 minutes. The Dutchman seemed poised for the stage victory for a long time.
Mathias Vacek (Lidl-Trek) was also having a great day and was ahead of Van der Poel at the split time. However, in the second half of the course, the Czech lost time and missed out on first place at the finish line. As the overall leader, Pogačar started last and was only slightly ahead of Vacek at the split time. In the final meters, the overall leader pulled out all the stops, slipping ahead of Van der Poel by the slimmest of margins.
With his second stage win of this Tour de Suisse, Pogačar further extended his lead in the overall standings. Heading into the final queen stage, he held a 4:22-minute lead over Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost). A solid margin for the Slovenian world champion heading into the final day of racing.
