Pogacar crushes the Tour at the Tourmalet and regains the yellow jersey with a historic performance

Tadej Pogacar turned the sixth stage of the 2026 Tour de France into a high mountain exhibition. The Slovenian won in Gavarnie-Gèdre after a historic performance on the Tourmalet and completed the last 43 kilometers solo in a day that leaves the general classification shaken.

Pogacar crushes the Tourmalet and wins in Gavarnie-Gèdre with almost three minutes over his rivals

The stage, 186.2 kilometers from Pau, was the first major Pyrenean test of the Tour. The Col d’Aspin served to start reducing the group of favorites, but the real earthquake came on the Tourmalet. UAE Team Emirates-XRG prepared the ground with Tim Wellens, Felix Großschartner, Brandon McNulty, and Adam Yates before Isaac del Toro did the final work for his leader.

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5 kilometers from the summit, Del Toro and Pogacar broke away together. Jonas Vingegaard preferred to pace himself, but could not contain the gap. Shortly after, Pogacar also left his companion behind and crowned the Tourmalet with a 30-second lead over the Dane. Behind, Del Toro, Paul Seixas, and Florian Lipowitz were already losing about a minute and a half, while Remco Evenepoel, Juan Ayuso, Lenny Martinez, Mattias Skjelmose, and Sepp Kuss were even further back.

The descent was dizzying and Pogacar continued to extend his lead to over 100 km/h in the fastest sections. In the final climb to Gavarnie-Gèdre, a long but gentle ascent of 18.7 kilometers at 3.7%, the Slovenian did not let up. Vingegaard finished completely overwhelmed and came in second at 2:38.

The chasing group arrived at 2:57, with Isaac del Toro third, Remco Evenepoel fourth, Paul Seixas fifth, Florian Lipowitz sixth, Juan Ayuso seventh, and Mattias Skjelmose eighth. Lenny Martinez was ninth at 3:02 and Sepp Kuss completed the top 10 at 3:06.

The day also left several important withdrawals. Cian Uijtdebroeks ended his first Tour after several days of fever and intestinal problems, in addition to suffering a shoe problem during the stage. Arvid de Kleijn and Bert Van Lerberghe also withdrew.

Torstein Træen, who started with the yellow jersey, soon lost ground on the Tourmalet and suffered a fall on the descent after touching the wheel of a teammate. He was able to continue, but the leadership passed back to Pogacar, who also took the lead in the mountain classification.

Top 10 stage 6 Tour de France 2026

1. Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) – 4:32:07
2. Jonas Vingegaard (Team Visma | Lease a Bike) +2:38
3. Isaac del Toro (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) +2:57
4. Remco Evenepoel (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe) +2:57
5. Paul Seixas (Decathlon CMA CGM) +2:57
6. Florian Lipowitz (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe) +2:57
7. Juan Ayuso (Lidl-Trek) +2:57
8. Mattias Skjelmose (Lidl-Trek) +2:57
9. Lenny Martinez (Bahrain Victorious) +3:02
10. Sepp Kuss (Team Visma | Lease a Bike) +3:06