July 14, 2026 – Aurillac > Le Lioran – Photos: A.S.O.
On Bastille Day, Tadej Pogacar (UAE Emirates-XRG) delivers the one two punch everyone could have expected.
The Slovenian powered his way to victory on stage 10 into Le Lioran claiming his third victory in this year’s Tour edition. He is the first rider with three stage wins on 14 July, passing, among others, Jacques Anquetil, whose record also includes two overall triumphs on this special day.
French attackers and other rivals struggled to earn the win today, battling it out on the many ascents of the day, Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost) being the last to be reeled in, but nobody could defend when the 4-time winner of the Tour attacked on the penultimate ascent of the day, Col de Pertus.
We’re sure fans were hoping Carapaz would make it, this last break out on his own was a valiant one.
He eventually took his 24th Tour stage win with a gap of 32 seconds to Remco Evenepoel (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe). Paul Seixas (Decathlon CMA CGM) rounds out the day’s top 3 and moves into the overall top 5 as Isaac del Toro (UAE Emirates-XRG) lost ground in the finale.
After the rest day, the peloton face a brutal stage 10 with no less than 3,800 metres of elevation packed in 166.6 km of racing from Aurillac to Le Lioran. The seven categorised ascents of the day, heading to a finish where Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) got the better of Tadej Pogacar (UAE Emirates-XRG), promise fireworks, which are more than suited to Bastille Day. 14 July is always a special rendezvous on the roads of the Tour de France.
Early fireworks
The first attacker of the day was from Luxembourg’s Alex Kirsch (Cofidis), attacking as soon as the flag dropped. After an early bike swap for Mads Pedersen, Lidl-Trek start pulling at the front to ensure their Danish star made it first at the intermediate sprint in Lacapelle-del-Fraisse (km 25.5).
Right after the line, Mathieu Van der Poel (Alpecin-Premier Tech) put the hammer down, with his teammate Ramses Debruyne and many more attackers in his wake. Attacks and counter-attacks flew. Jonas Abrahamsen (Uno-X Mobility) initiated a decisive move at km 45. A dozen riders followed the Norwegian all-rounder, a dozen more bridged the gap in successive waves, and a 31-man breakaway eventually emerged at the front.
UAE Emirates-XRG rapidly moved to the front positions of the peloton to ensure the gap never grew larger than 1’25’’ –which they reached halfway through the stage. At that point, the breakaway has already exploded, because of the pressure applied by the peloton and the lack of collaboration at the front.
Carapaz takes over after Romo’s solo
Javier Romo (Movistar) and Harold Tejada (XDS Astana) led the way in front of chasers such as Ben Healy (EF Education-EasyPost), Valentin Paret-Peintre (Soudal Quick-Step), Alex Baudin (EF Education-EasyPost), and Ramses Debruyne. Romo went solo on the climb to Col de la Griffoul (cat. 2, summit at km 97.3).
The Spaniard rounds the top first, as well as Col de Prat de Bouc (cat. 3, km 103.8) and Côte de Murat (cat. 3, km 118.8). He’s reeled in after 36 kilometres alone at the front, at the bottom of the climb up Puy Mary – Pas de Peyrol (cat. 1, km 135.7).
Immediately after, Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost) set off. The Ecuadorian climber rapidly opened a gap of 40 seconds. Decathlon CMA CGM moved to the front of the 20-man GC group towards the summit.
Carapaz tries, Pogacar succeeds
Carapaz pushed his advantage on the downhill. His lead was up to 1 minute at the bottom of the penultimate climb of the day, Col de Pertus (cat. 1, km 152.1). Visma-Lease a Bike upped the ante with Davide Piganzoli. But they can’t react when Pogacar attacks one kilometer from the summit. The Slovenian flew past Carapaz and opened a gap of 20 seconds to a group with Jonas Vingegaard, Remco Evenepoel and Paul Seixas, while Isaac del Toro struggled.
Pogacar kept up the pace on the Col de Font de Cère ascent and eventually took his 24th Tour stage win with a gap of 32 seconds to Remco Evenepoel (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe), who stepped on the overall podium instead of Del Toro (8th on the day, +1’31’’). The Mexican youngster drops down to seventh place in the overall standings, also behind Juan Ayuso (+4’22’’), Paul Seixas (+4’35’’), and Florian Lipowitz (+4’44’’).
