The general classification pretenders had their fun with the early jersey hand-offs, but the first true high-altitude testing ground of the 2026 Tour de France settled the score. Tadej Pogačar launched a devastating 43-kilometer solo raid over the Col du Tourmalet to vaporize the field and seize the Maillot Jaune.
The 191-kilometers from Pau to Gavarnie-Gèdre packed over 4,000 meters of vertical elevation. While the morning was defined by green jersey hunter Mads Pedersen jumping into an early move to clean up intermediate sprint points, UAE Team Emirates-XRG was preparing to set the race on fire.
The Emirati squad suffocated the race on the approach to the Col d’Aspin, neutralizing an optimistic flyer by Ben O’Connor before turning the lower slopes of the Tourmalet into a meat grinder. Tim Wellens, Brandon McNulty, and Adam Yates pulled massive turns to shed the dead weight from the peloton. Then, with five kilometers left of the HC climb, Mexican climbing prodigy Isaac Del Toro stepped up to launch the final accelerator.
Pogačar launched an explosive attack with 43 kilometers left to ride, immediately distancing Jonas Vingegaard. By the time Pogačar hit the 2,115-meter crest of the Tourmalet, he had already carved out a 30-second gap, making history as the first reigning world champion to conquer the iconic summit KOM.
Instead of backing off on the technical Pyrenean descent, the Slovenian kept the throttle wide open. Vingegaard chased with calculated desperation but steadily bled time against Pogačar, eventually crossing the line in second place at a massive 2 minutes and 38 seconds deficit. A shattered elite chase group containing Del Toro, Remco Evenepoel, and Paul Seixas rolled in nearly four minutes down.
The afternoon was a disappointment for race leader Torstein Træen. Dropped on the unforgiving slopes of the Tourmalet, the Uno-X Mobility rider suffered a heavy crash on the high-speed descent, eventually limping across the line nearly thirty minutes back to surrender the yellow jersey. Pogačar heads into Stage 7 with a comfortable 2:38 cushion over Vingegaard, signaling to the rest of the WorldTour that the fight for the yellow jersey might already be a battle for second place.
Results
Are we going to have to ditch FirstCycling? Let us know!
Results powered by FirstCycling.com