Champagnole to Plateau de Solaison – Photos: A.S.O.
It was a great day for Remco Evenepoel, who managed to battle it out on the fourth Hors Categorie climb to Plateau de Solaison, trouncing Tadej Pogacar and Isaac del Toro to the line.
But it was a sad day for Jonas Vingegaard, who crashed during the race while circumventing traffic furniture. Why gendarmes were not stationed there on the curve to warn riders as they came around the corner that they were about to hit a raised bed in the roadway is mystifying. He left the race in an emergency vehicle.
His absence means that no one is as close to Pogacar with a chance of taking any time from the Slovenian, as Vingegaard not only was closest in the GC ranking, but also the most capable to take some time back.
Tadej Pogacar (UAE Emirates XRG) nevertheless is minutes ahead of his remaining rivals: the 4-time winner of the race set the pace himself on the final climb of the day, to the unprecedented finish at Plateau de Solaison, trying not only to distance his rivals but also to favor the ambitions of his younger teammate Isaac del Toro.
But after their 1-2s in Barcelona (stage 2) and at Le Markstein (stage 14), the UAE Emirates-XRG duo had to settle for second and third behind Remco Evenepoel (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe), the only rider to follow Pogacar’s pace.
The Belgian produced a powerful sprint at the summit to take his third Tour stage win after two ITT successes in 2024 and 2025. No-one expected Evenepoel to be able to best Pogacar and he played the final battle to the finish to perfection. This is Belgium’s 500th stage win in the Tour. Evenepoel is now second in the overall standings also because of the withdrawal of Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike). The Dane had reached the overall podium in his five previous Tours, notably winning it in 2022 and 2023.
Today’s race also made heroes out of American Quinn Simmons and Swiss rider Mauro Schmid, who took turns on their own ahead of the Yellow Jersey towards Plateau de Solaison. Although they were no match for the Yellow Jersey in the end, they fought brilliantly in the final kilometers of the race.
The Details
A final mountain showdown ahead of the second rest day. After Tadej Pogacar’s victory at Le Markstein, the 169-man peloton faces the first HC finish of the Tour de France 2026, at Plateau de Solaison, after 183.9 km on demanding roads. The race started in Champagnole, part of the Jura on the banks of river Ain associated with success for Sylvère Maes (the first Tour stage winner here in 1937), the Johannessen twins (who achieved a 1-2 in a Tour de l’Avenir stage that started in Champagnole) or Justine Ghekiere (winner of a Tour de France Femmes avec Zwit stage that started in Champagnole).
Another huge battle for the break
Alpecin-Premier Tech controlled the first part of the day until Jasper Philipsen took full points at the intermediate sprint in Saint-Laurent-en-Grandvaux (km 17.3). Second on the line, Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) defended his green jersey and maintains an advantage of 31 points against his Belgian rival.
Then, the battle for the break started in earnest. It stretched out over half of the 183.9 km of the day, with EF Education-EasyPost intent on launching Richard Carapaz. A group emerged at the front at km 87 and merged to 24 members, including five riders from the GC top-20: Tom Pidcock (Pinarello Q36.5), on the move for a third consecutive day; as well as Egan Bernal (Netcompany Ineos), Ilan Van Wilder (Soudal Quick-Step), Yannis Voisard (Tudor), and Adam Yates (UAE Emirates XRG).
Vingegaard hits the pavement
No one wanted to cooperate in the break however. Brent Van Moer (Pinarello Q36.5) empties his tank to bring the gap up to 2’55’’ before the climb of Le Salève – Col de la Croisette (cat 1, summit at km 136). Tom Pidcock (Pinarello 36.5) and Quinn Simmons (Lidl-Trek) accelerated on these brutal slopes (4.7 km at 11.2 %). Only five riders follow them: Adam Yates (UAE Emirates XRG), Mauro Schmid (Jayco AlUla), Einer Rubio (Movistar), Ewen Costiou (Groupama-FDJ United), and Yannis Voisard.
Behind them, Visma-Lease a Bike drove a strong chase until Jonas Vingegaard crashed with 24 kilometers to go. The race doctors put his right arm in a sling and the Dane got into the ambulance, marking the end of his sixth Tour. He was first (2022, 2023) or second (2021, 2024, 2025) in his previous participations.
Evenepoel spoils the UAE show
Schmid accelerated ahead of the final ascent, the unprecedented climb to Plateau de Solaison, and faced the final 11.3 km at 9% with a lead of 25 seconds. Simmons distanced everyone and passed the Swiss winner of Belfort (stage 13) as they entered the final 9 kilometers.
In the peloton, Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe set a strong pace until Tadej Pogacar took the reins of the bunch 8 kilometers from the summit. Rapidly, only two riders remained on his wheel: his young teammate Isaac del Toro and their rival Remco Evenepoel (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe). They get back to Yates, who closes the gap to Simmons before being dropped with 4.5 km to go.
Pogacar sets the pace again. Del Toro accelerates a couple of times inside the last kilometre. But Evenepoel reacted well and eventually powered to victory ahead of Pogacar and Del Toro. Fourth on the day, Seixas lost the white jersey to Del Toro, who moves up to 3rd place overall, 25 seconds ahead of the French wunderkind.
