Imperious Pogačar seals Bastille Day triumph on stage 10 – Tour de France

Tour de France 2026

Stage 10

As if there would be any doubt on the sawtooth profile through the Massif Central to Le Lioran – when the road goes uphill, Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) wins. Few doubted the yellow jersey would repeat what he did on stages 3 and 6, and he duly launched himself clear for a third stage victory on stage 10 at the Tour de France, 15km from the line.

When Pogačar went, former king of the mountains Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost) was 50 seconds up the road, nearing the top of the Col de Pertus, the penultimate climb of the 166.6km stage. But that advantage melted away in less than a kilometre in the 30°C-plus heat, and he was dropped even before the summit.

Then, the four-time champion was away, 10 seconds clear of Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) and those GC pretenders already further adrift, a time gap that only grew as he soloed up the finale of the Col de Font de Cère.

With 5km to run, he was 25 seconds clear, and with another 2km of riding he added 15 more. At the line he celebrated a 24th career Tour de France stage triumph and an extension of what already looks an unassailable lead.

Further back, Vingegaard hauled a chase group of France’s great hope Paul Seixas (Decathlon CMA CGM), Florian Lipowitz minus his Red Bull-Bora-Hasngrohe co-leaded Remco Evenepoel, and Lidl-Trek pairing of Juan Ayuso and Mattias Skjelmose. He took one long turn, but his companions had no help to offer.

Two years ago, this finish hosted a two-man sprint showdown between Pogačar and Vingegaard, but there was no chance of a repeat this Bastille Day. Instead, Pogačar sprinted away 26 minutes early, and barely let up before crossing the line.

Some time later, there was a sprint. A resurgent Evenepoel lived to fight another day and led the best of the rest home, 32 seconds in arrears. The Belgian nabbed two seconds on Seixas and Lipowitz, while Ayuso and Skjelmose trailed home at 38 seconds down.

It wasn’t Vingegaard’s day, either. He was clad in the polka dot jersey, but he’s far from the top climber this July. He had nothing for the final dash, fading to seventh place, 44 seconds adrift and a distinct second-best in the great Tour rivalry of our time.

“Today was an incredible day,” Pogačar said, both a weathered platitude and severe understatement at once.

“The team did a super good job. We targeted this stage since a long time ago, and it also happens that two years ago Jonas beat me in the sprint fair and square. Today I had a similar legacy; to finish completely destroyed.”

“But yeah, I enjoyed the day, and in the final I didn’t know if I was gonna win until the last kilometre. Then I remembered this festive day and tried to honour the yellow jersey.

“Thanks to all the fans that came today to the road. It was an amazing atmosphere, even though [there was] some booing. To all the guys that were booing, they give us more power. Thank you, thank you.”

Pogačar rode much of the final run with little idea of his advantage, he said, as his UAE team chose the stage to test out new radios. Evidently, they didn’t pass, drowned out by the crowds, whether booing or cheering.

“In the last 10km, I didn’t know what was the gap, who is doing what, and all I had in my mind is try to keep pushing to the top,” he said.

“I knew it very well. We also did recon yesterday. But also there was a little bit of doubt in my head since two years ago, Jonas came and then I was empty to the sprint. So for sure, I had this in my head until the final few hundred metres.”

The 27 year old’s 60th day as Tour de France leader ended with him extending his overall lead to 3:36 – and remember, the peloton has, to date, tackeled just one real mountain stage.

Vingegaard, before the race a man with real prospects of winning a third career Tour, is now already looking over his shoulder at the narrowing gap to third placed Evenepoel now just 30 seconds. Further back, Aysuo (at 4:22), Seixas (at 4:33), and Del Toro (at 5:08, and down four places) are all eyeing the podium.

An age ahead, the leader described the Tour so far as “perfect for me, for the team”.

“It suited us really well, and today, for example, the perfect climbs for each one of the riders in the team, so everybody could do their job and, in the end, I could finish it off.

“Like I said, you never know how long it lasts,” Pogačar, already boasting a trophy cabinet more packed than – almost – every other bike racer in history, concluded.

“We just need to be grateful for this moment to be riding on here the biggest race of the world. It’s in France, not so far from our homes, and I see Slovenian flags. We just need to enjoy this moment and enjoy the race.”

Who knows how many of the 175 riders accompanying his coronation this month have the same capacity to soak in the moment and enjoy the battle, but at least the man in yellow can.

The first stage back after the Tour’s first rest day, a 166.6km trek through the Massif Central, would take in 3,800 metres of elevation gain and seven classified climbs on the road to Le Lioran.

The peloton faced four third-category hills and one second-category hill during the stage, though the biggest tests would come 30.9km from the end at the Pas de Peyrol (7.8km at 6%) and the penultimate climb, the Col de Pertus (4.4km at 8.5%). Last up was the Col de Font de Cère (3.1km at 5.8%), just 2.7km from the line.

The battle for the breakaway began right away as dozens of riders fought to get out front. Groups ebbed and flowed at the front, and a split in the peloton after 15km was quickly undone.

Green jersey Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) extended his overall points lead after 45km of racing. The Dane beat Max Kanter (XDS-Astana), Biniam Girmay (NSN), and Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Premier Tech) to the line for the maximum 25 points, while fellow contender Tim Merlier (Soudal-QuickStep) had already been dropped.

A large group got away shortly afterwards, but once, again, things were brought back, only to lead into more attacks and counters. Finally, after 46km of fast-paced racing, a large group managed to break clear.

Almost 30 riders made the move, though the numbers dwindled a little over the first third-category hill of the day. Still, plenty of major names were present, including stage 9 winner Mathieu van der Poel, Ramsses Debruyne(Alpecin-Premier Tech), Ben Healy, Alex Baudin (EF Education-EasyPost), Sergio Higuita (XDS-Astana), Thymen Arensman (Netcompany Ineos), Valentin Paret-Peintre (Soudal-QuickStep), Ben O’Connor (Jayco-AlUla), Romain Grégoire (Groupama-FDJ United), and Marc Hirschi (Tudor).

The gap back to the peloton, led, of course, by UAE Team Emirates-XRG, was slim, only 1:30, but it held through the midpoint of the stage and onto the second-category Col de la Griffoul (5.9km at 6.7%). On the way up, there were more attacks out front, with Harold Tejada (XDS-Astana) leading the charge.

Javier Romo (Movistar) led over the summit, however, the Spaniard leading Baudin, Paret-Peintre, and Debruyne by 30 seconds. The peloton, led by the charging UAE squad, lay a further 30 seconds back.
Romo would forge a sole lead over the next two climbs, grabbing a total of nine mountain points, as those behind were brought back.

Romo’s own adventure ended on the way up the Pas de Peyrol, 38km from the line as Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost) jumped from the peloton.

The ascent, and the pace of UAE and Decathlon CMA CGM, shredded the main group, leaving around 20 men behind the Ecuadorian at the top. He’d the descent with 23 seconds in hand, a slim lead to hold still a long way from the line.

2024 king of the mountains Carapaz flew down the descent, unbothered by any riders around him. Some of those chasing weren’t so lucky, however, as Chris Harper (Pinarello-Q36.5), Matteo Jorgenson (Visma-Lease a Bike), and even demon descender and Harper’s teammate, Tom Pidcock, hit the deck.

Those who stayed upright seemed to err on the side of caution, meanwhile, as Carapaz pushed on to extend his advantage to a minute with 20km to run. He hit the Col du Pertus 1:15 clear as UAE and Decathlon got to work once more.

17km out, and 2.5km from the top, it was Visma’s Davide Piganzoli who took over, pushing the pace further as the likes of Skjelmose and Tobias Halland Johannessen (Uno-X Mobility) slid backwards.

It was the indomitable Pogačar who made the first big GC move, though, launching his acceleration just over a kilometre from the top. Of course, nobody could react, and the blur of yellow flew up the remainder of the Pertus, across the 48-second gap to Carapaz, and past the escapee before the summit.

Vingegaard was the best of the GC men behind, the Dane starting the descent with a 10-second deficit as the podium squabblers trailed in his wake. Pogačar pounded 16 seconds clear at the base of the Col de Font de Cère as Vingegaard settled in at the head of the chase.

Carapaz was caught and dropped and then, as the road tilted skywards, so did the diesel Evenepoel. Barring a disaster on the short final descent, the stage was over at the summit, with 40 seconds separating the reigning champion and the pretenders to his crown.

He took no chances sliding down into Le Lioran, shedding a handful of seconds which hardly matter in this game of minutes. Up the hill, Evenepoel had seemingly taken far more, reconnecting with the Vingegaard train under the flamme rouge for one last rush uphill.

As Pogačar savoured career victory 124, behind him there was real competition as the podium melee erupted. Pogačar’s lieutenant, the podium sitter Isaac del Toro, had long detached from the chase group, and so third was for the taking.

Evenepoel, harnessing his second wind, enjoyed a rather rare sprint success to leapfrog the Mexican on GC and to within half a minute of Vingegaard.

Seconds separated those in the Belgian’s wake, and now, with a relatively slim 92 seconds separating second from Del Toro’s new spot of seventh, it appears as though the battle for the podium is on, even if top spot may already be long gone less than halfway through the Tour.

Tomorrow’s stage 11 of the Tour seems set for the sprinters. The route covers 161.3 kilometres between Vichy and Nevers, with around 1,800 metres of elevation gain.

Vichy is a spa town in central France, best known for its thermal springs, though it also carries the weight of history. During the Second World War, Marshal Philippe Pétain’s government was based here, and the so-called Vichy regime collaborated with Nazi Germany. Nowadays, the town has returned to its roots as a health resort.

Vichy has hosted the Tour de France only once before. In 1952, Italy’s Fiorenzo Magni won the time trial from the Puy de Dôme to Vichy, finishing 2 seconds ahead of Belgium’s Stan Ockers.

The riders head off in a northerly direction, following the river that flows through the town, the Allier, for 57 kilometres. At Moulins, they leave the valley and head towards the Loire, crossing it before looping south into Nevers from the north. With just under 40 kilometres to go, the Côte de Billy-Chévannes (1.5 kilometres at 6%) is the day’s toughest climb.

Nevers welcomes the Tour peloton for the fourth time. The Belgian Eric Leman claimed the first victory here in 1971, followed by two Italian sprinters – Guido Bontempi in 1986 and Alessandro Petacchi in 2003. Which of today’s sprint heavyweights will add his name to that list?

Stage 10 result:

1. Tadej Pogačar (Slo) UAE Team Emirates-XRG, in 3:58:08
2. Remco Evenepoel (Bel) Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe, +32s
3. Paul Seixas (Fra) Decathlon CMA CGM, +34s
4. Florian Lipowitz (Ger) Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe, at s.t.
5. Juan Ayuso (Esp) Lidl-Trek, +38s
6. Mattias Skjelmose (Den) Lidl-Trek, at s.t.
7. Jonas Vingegaard (Den) Visma-Lease a Bike, +44s
8. Isaac del Toro (Mex) UAE Team Emirates-XRG, +1:31
9. Tom Pidcock (Gbr) Pinarello Q36.5, +1:59
10. Lenny Martinez (Fra) Bahrain Victorious, +2:03

General Classification:

1. Tadej Pogačar (Slo) UAE Team Emirates-XRG, in 36:15:02
2. Jonas Vingegaard (Den) Visma-Lease a Bike, +3:36
3. Remco Evenepoel (Bel) Redu Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe, +4:06
4. Juan Ayuso (Esp) Lidl-Trek, +4:22
5. Paul Seixas (Fra) Decathlon CMA CGM, +4:35
6. Florian Lipowitz (Ger) Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe, +4:44
7. Isaac del Toro (Mex) UAE Team Emirates-XRG, +5:08
8. Mattias Skjelmose (Den) Lidl-Trek,+5:45
9. Lenny Martinez (Fra) Bahrain Victorious, +6:34
10. Egan Bernal (Col) Netcompany-Ineos, +11:49