Tadej Pogačar danced away on the 16% gradients of the Col du Haag to claim his fourth victory of this year’s Tour. A 30-man breakaway fueled by Ben Healy and Tom Pidcock animated the stage early on, allowing Valentin Paret-Peintre to clean up a hat-trick of KOM summits for the polka-dot jersey. However, the scripts were torn up on the final climb. Richard Carapaz launched a desperate solo flyer that was eventually neutralized by a chasing Jonas Vingegaard, but neither had any response when the Maillot Jaune dropped the hammer to cross the line alone at Le Markstein.
Pogačar’s historic milestone pulls him level with legendary Frenchman André Leducq at 25 career stage wins, but behind him was just as devastating for the rest of the general classification. Isaac Del Toro clawed his way back on the false flat to secure another dominant UAE 1-2 finish, while Decathlon CMA CGM’s phenomenal rookie Paul Seixas crossed in third. By taking 16 seconds out of Juan Ayuso, the young French star gained the white jersey to cap off a historic day. Pogačar exits the Vosges with an iron grip on the yellow jersey, leaving his rivals competing for the minor places.