Pedersen wins, Traeen takes the yellow jersey, and Pogacar drops to fourth place in the overall standings in stage 4 of the Tour

Mads Pedersen won the fourth stage of the Tour de France 2026 after a collective exhibition by Lidl-Trek in the day's breakaway. The Danish rider finished off the work of Quinn Simmons and Mathias Vacek in Foix, who controlled all the attacks in the final kilometers and set up the victory for their leader.

Mads Pedersen wins in Foix and Torstein Træen dons the yellow jersey in the Tour

The stage, covering 181.9 kilometers between Carcassonne and Foix, was a classic transition stage with enough terrain for a strong breakaway. And so it was. A group of 34 riders formed in the first kilometers and ended up deciding both the stage victory and the change of leader in the general classification.

Lidl-Trek dominated the breakaway

The breakaway included very dangerous riders: Mads Pedersen, Quinn Simmons, and Mathias Vacek from Lidl-Trek; Kévin Vauquelin, Jasper Stuyven, Michael Matthews, Biniam Girmay, Torstein Træen, Sean Quinn, Pablo Castrillo, Raúl García Pierna, Ramses Debruyne, and Marco Frigo, among others.

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Pogacar beats everyone and takes yellow in stage 3 of the 2026 Tour

UAE Team Emirates-XRG allowed the gap to grow, and Tadej Pogacar, who had donned the yellow jersey the day before, accepted giving up the lead without any effort. The difference exceeded seven minutes and made it clear that the stage and the jersey would be contested up front.

In the battle for points, Girmay won the intermediate sprint in Quillan ahead of Philipsen and Pedersen, but the Danish rider still had much to say.

Montségur selected the race

The key climb was the Col de Montségur, the last climb of the day. Movistar tried to break the race with Pablo Castrillo and Raúl García Pierna, but Lidl-Trek always responded with numerical superiority.

Quinn Simmons and Mathias Vacek acted as perfect domestiques for Pedersen. Every Spanish attack was immediately neutralized, while the leading group was reduced to ten riders before the long descent to Foix.

There remained those who would contest the stage: Pedersen, Simmons, and Vacek, Sean Quinn, Kévin Vauquelin, Ramses Debruyne, Torstein Træen, Marco Frigo, Pablo Castrillo, and Raúl García Pierna.

Pedersen does not forgive

In the final kilometers, everyone knew that arriving with Pedersen was almost a sentence. Movistar tried with several attacks, Marco Frigo also attempted from afar, but Lidl-Trek left no room.

Vacek led the group in the last kilometer and Pedersen launched a long sprint about 300 meters from the finish. No one could get close. The Danish rider celebrated his first victory of the season, his third stage in the Tour, and also positioned himself as the new leader of the points classification.

Quinn Simmons completed the Lidl-Trek double in second place, with Raúl García Pierna third and Marco Frigo fourth. Ramses Debruyne secured a great fifth place.

Træen takes the yellow jersey from Pogacar

The other big news of the day was the change of leader. Torstein Træen finished in the winning group and donned the yellow jersey thanks to the large gap conceded by the peloton, almost 8 minutes. The Norwegian from Uno-X thus becomes the leader of the Tour, with Sean Quinn as the main pursuer at 28 seconds, and now Pogacar and Vingegaard are at 7:53 minutes.

For Uno-X, it is a historic result, while Pogacar hands over the jersey without any sporting damage before a stage that, in principle, should give an opportunity to the sprinters in Pau.

Top 10 stage 4 Tour de France 2026

1. Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) – 4:10:45
2. Quinn Simmons (Lidl-Trek) +0
3. Raúl García Pierna (Movistar Team) +0
4. Marco Frigo (NSN Cycling Team) +0
5. Ramses Debruyne (Alpecin-Premier Tech) +0
6. Kévin Vauquelin (Netcompany INEOS) +0
7. Sean Quinn (EF Education-EasyPost) +0
8. Torstein Træen (Uno-X Mobility) +0
9. Pablo Castrillo (Movistar Team) +0
10. Mathias Vacek (Lidl-Trek) +0

Top 5 of the General Classification of the Tour after stage 4

1. Torstein Træen (Uno-X Mobility) – 13:02:46
2. Sean Quinn (EF Education-EasyPost) +28”
3. Mathias Vacek (Lidl-Trek) +3:50
4. Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) +7:53
5. Jonas Vingegaard (Team Visma | Lease a Bike) +7:53