If anyone was still wondering who controls this Tour de France, Tadej Pogačar delivered a very clear answer on Stage 6.
The World Champion launched a devastating attack high on the legendary Col du Tourmalet, rode clear of every one of his rivals and powered solo to victory in Gavarnie-Gèdre. It was a ruthless display of climbing, descending and confidence that not only earned the Slovenian his second stage win of this Tour, but also put him back into the Yellow Jersey with a commanding advantage over his biggest rivals.
The Tour Finally Hits the High Mountains
Thursday’s 186.2-kilometre stage from Pau to Gavarnie-Gèdre was the Tour’s only true Pyrenean test, and everyone knew it would be decisive.
After a relatively gentle run south through Lourdes and Bagnères-de-Bigorre, the race reached the real business at Arreau, where the riders tackled the Col d’Aspin (12km at 6.5%). A fast descent led directly to cycling’s most famous climb, the mighty Col du Tourmalet (17km at 7.3%).
The summit came with 39 kilometres still remaining, leaving one final obstacle—the gradual 18-kilometre climb to Gavarnie-Gèdre—to decide the stage.
Early Break Never Given Much Hope
Victor Campenaerts (Visma | Lease a Bike) animated the opening kilometres with an early attack, later joined by Dutch rider Huub Artz (Lotto-Intermarché) and Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek), who was clearly hunting maximum points at the intermediate sprint.
The trio never gained much more than a minute as UAE Emirates-XRG kept the race firmly under control. With a Visma rider up the road, Pogačar’s teammates had little intention of allowing the move too much freedom.
Pedersen comfortably collected the sprint points before easing back into the bunch, while Campenaerts was eventually reeled in shortly afterwards.
UAE Turn the Tourmalet Into a Selection
Ben O’Connor (Jayco AlUla) briefly tried his luck before the mountains, but once the race hit the Aspin, UAE’s climbing train began tightening the screws.
Valentin Paret-Peintre and Lenny Martinez escaped briefly to contest the mountain points, with Martinez narrowly taking maximum KOM points over the Aspin, but behind them UAE continued to grind away at the peloton.
By the lower slopes of the Tourmalet the damage was becoming obvious.
One rider after another cracked under the relentless pace set by Nils Politt, Tim Wellens and the rest of the UAE squad. Yellow jersey wearer Torstein Træen was one of the first major casualties, unable to live with the accelerating tempo as the race exploded around him.
Del Toro Lights the Fuse – Pogačar Finishes the Job
With five kilometres remaining on the Tourmalet, Isaac Del Toro launched the move that blew the race apart.
Initially only his teammate Pogačar could respond. Jonas Vingegaard fought desperately to limit the damage, with Paul Seixas and Florian Lipowitz briefly hanging close behind, while Remco Evenepoel immediately began losing ground.
Del Toro’s explosive acceleration eventually caught up with him, forcing the young Mexican to ease off. Pogačar simply rode away.
Vingegaard briefly clawed back to within ten seconds, but the effort proved too much. Two kilometres from the summit the Dane finally cracked, and by the top Pogačar already held around half a minute.
Behind, the damage continued to grow. Del Toro, Seixas and Lipowitz crested roughly 90 seconds back, while Evenepoel’s group – containing Juan Ayuso, Mattias Skjelmose, Sepp Kuss and Martinez—was nearing two minutes in arrears.
Full Gas Down the Tourmalet
If anyone expected Pogačar to back off on the descent, they haven’t watched much racing over the past few seasons.
The Slovenian attacked every corner, touching breathtaking speeds well over 100 km/h as he increased his lead even further.
Behind, the chase never really came together. Vingegaard found himself isolated while Evenepoel’s group struggled to organise a smooth pursuit, with visible frustration beginning to show from the Belgian.
To make matters worse for Uno-X Mobility, Træen’s hopes of defending yellow ended with a heavy crash on the descent.
No Answer to the World Champion
By the foot of the final climb, Pogačar had stretched his advantage to 1:10 over Vingegaard and almost two minutes over the Evenepoel group.
There would be no dramatic comeback.
Pogačar continued to drive relentlessly on the gentler gradients to Gavarnie-Gèdre, increasing his lead kilometre after kilometre while his rivals battled each other almost as much as they battled the mountain.
With five kilometres remaining, Vingegaard was already more than two minutes behind, while Evenepoel’s group had slipped close to three minutes. Despite the lack of cooperation behind, Evenepoel eventually found himself doing much of the chasing alone.
None of it mattered.
Pogačar crossed the finish line in complete control, celebrating his second stage victory of this Tour and reclaiming the Yellow Jersey in emphatic style. Vingegaard held on for second, 2:40 behind, while Del Toro won the sprint for third ahead of Evenepoel to collect the final bonus seconds.
The first major mountain showdown belonged to one man—and after a performance like this, the rest of the Tour suddenly looks very much like Tadej Pogačar’s race to lose.
2026 Tour de France Stage 6 Results
Results 2026 Tour de France Overall After Stage 6
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