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Friday, July 10, 2026

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Current racing:

July 4 - 26: Tour de France
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Tour de France stage six reports

We posted the race organizer's report with the results.

Here's the report from stage winner and new GC leader Tadej Pogacar's UAE Team Emriates-XRG:

With another imperious display, Tadej Pogačar won stage 6 of the Tour de France and retook the Yellow Jersey as the leader of the general classification. The UAE Team Emirates-XRG went on a solo conquest on the Col du Tourmalet, before riding to the day’s honours at Gavarnie-Gèdre.

The victory marked Pogačar’s 23rd stage success at the Tour de France in seven editions, coming just three days after he won the stage to Les Angles.

Tadej Pogacar taking off on the Tourmalet.

On the first day in the mountains of this year’s Tour, it was the Slovenian’s opportunity to impose his superiority over his rivals for the overall crown. Setting his UAE Team Emirates-XRG teammates to work from the early knockings, Pogačar was keen to lay down the law from kilometre 0. The harder the race, the better his chances of dislodging his opponents from the wheel.

So it proved for the four-time Tour de France champion, who used the Col du Tourmalet as his launchpad. One by one, the Emirati squad’s mountain train peeled off, with both Brandon McNulty and Adam Yates having done their work in setting a hard pace. Once the latter had spent his bullets, it was over to Isaac del Toro, the stage 2 winner, to launch.

The Mexican needed no encouragement and immediately jumped out of the saddle. Within a few pedal strokes, Remco Evenepoel (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe), Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) and more had been forced to relent. Del Toro and Pogačar were quickly alone at the head of the bike race, and after riding in unison for a kilometre, Pogačar went off alone.

With 43km to ride, the 27-year-old took flight. Up the final 4km of the Col du Tourmalet, he stretched out a healthy gap, and on the descent, he pummelled home his advantage with a brave ride.

At the foot of the 18km climb to the finish line, Pogačar held an advantage of well over a minute, and by the summit, the UAE Team Emirates-XRG rider had two minutes and 38 seconds over his nearest competitor, Vingegaard. It had been an imposing effort from the Slovenian, with the Yellow Jersey his reward.

Meanwhile, as those behind Pogačar and Vingegaard scrambled to rally themselves, Del Toro stuck to the task of following the wheels and finishing strongly. At the line, the Mexican won the sprint of a small group to take third place on the day, and move himself up to third overall.

As for Pogačar, his lead in the general classification over the second-placed Vingegaard stands at two minutes and 42 seconds. The 27-year-old ranked the day’s victory as one of the finest of his remarkable career.

Pogačar: “I think this is top five [of my Tour de France stage wins]. I got flashbacks to Tourmalet in 2023, after I had broken my hand in Liège. I got a lot of flashbacks, it was a similar finish. It was a really incredible victory and one of my favourite wins so far. Yesterday on the bus, when we were coming back from the stage, we had very big hype already talking about today’s stage.

“This morning I woke up at 7am and my mind was going crazy, I was so excited about today’s stage. I knew all the guys were really hyped so I knew it could be a good day. We committed, we had nothing to lose – if we explode, we explode. We did it and I am super proud of everybody today.”

Here's the Tour de France report from second-place Jonas Vingegaard's Team Visma | Lease a Bike:

Jonas Vingegaard fought his way to second place in the grueling Pyrenean mountain stage. The Dane gave everything on the Col du Tourmalet, but ultimately had to acknowledge Tadej Pogacar's superiority.

In the sixth stage of the Tour de France, Team Visma | Lease a Bike immediately made its presence felt at the front of the race. In an intense stage that was ridden at a high pace from the start, Victor Campenaerts and Matteo Jorgenson showed themselves near the front, but no decisive breakaway was able to form.

A heavily reduced peloton then began the ascent of the Col du Tourmalet, where the race exploded. Pogacar launched an attack with five kilometres remaining to the summit, after which Vingegaard settled into his own pace. The Dane fought as hard as he could, but ultimately had to acknowledge Pogacar was stronger today. The Slovenian was untouchable and soloed to victory.

Jonas Vingegaard finishes stage six. Sirotti photo.

"It wasn't the day I had hoped for," Vingegaard reflected afterwards. "It was a very tough day. When Pogacar attacked on the Tourmalet, I stuck to my own pace. However, the descent towards the final climb did not suit me, and I lost a lot of time there. It wasn't my best day on the bike. I am disappointed, but that's the way it is."

Team director Marc Reef saw positives despite the time loss. "Jonas fought all the way to the finish and did everything he could to limit the gap to Pogacar. He also managed to keep the group behind him at a distance, which was important as well."

"Before the stage, our plan was to have someone in the early breakaway so that Jonas would have support after the Tourmalet," Reef continued. "That did not work out, so we had to adjust our approach during the race. On the Tourmalet, Jonas settled into his own pace after Pogacar's attack and stayed within ten seconds for a long time. With two kilometres to go to the summit, he had to ease off the pace slightly. He continued to fight all the way to the finish, but he could no longer limit the gap."

Here's the Tour de France report from Egan Bernal's Team Netcompany INEOS:

Egan Bernal finished 11th on stage six’s mountain test at the Tour de France to limit his losses and move into 10th place overall.

There were a number of attacks in the opening 80km, but none that posed any real threat before the peloton hit the day’s major climbs. UAE Emirates - XRG did most of the work on the Col d’Aspin, setting a blistering pace that put the peloton under pressure.

The race began to split on the Col du Tourmalet, with 16 riders going clear, including Bernal. Arensman was just behind in the yellow jersey group, but a crash involving Torstein Træen (Uno-X Mobility) saw him lose contact.

The stage six startline.

Bernal dug deep to cross the line in 11th place after Tadej Pogačar (UAE Emirates - XRG) claimed the stage victory. The Colombian’s performance moved him up to 10th in the general classification.

The sprinters are expected to return to the fore on Friday, with a flat stage seven into Bordeaux.

And here's the Tour de France report from Team Soudal Quick-Step:

The race started only a couple of days ago, but it already hit the high mountains on stage six, which went deep into the heart of the mighty Pyrenees, where the feared duo of Col d’Aspin and Col du Tourmalet awaited. The fact that the least climb of the day, Gavarnie-Gèdre, had shallow gradients didn’t count at all for the general classification men, who launched their moves more than 40 kilometers from the finish.

Valentin Paret-Peintre tested the waters early, attacking before the summit of the Aspin and scoring some points that put him in contention for the polka for jersey. His action was a brave but short-lived one, as the peloton came back and caught him on the descent. Just before taking on the slopes of the Tourmalet, Bert Van Lerberghe brought his second Tour de France participation to a conclusion, meaning that our team will go into the weekend with seven riders.

Ilan Van Wilder finished this stage won by Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) as the highest-ranked Soudal Quick-Step rider and sits in 14th place on the overall standings, where things should remain unchanged in the next two days, which will bring as many opportunities for the sprinters.

“It was tough today. It was hot again and full gas from the start, as many wanted to be in the breakaway. We then climbed the Aspin at an incredible speed, and things continued like that on the Tourmalet, were the pace set at the front of the bunch was crazy. I managed to join a group and arrive with it at the finish, but it remains to be seen if I can keep this tempo for three weeks”, Ilan explained after the stage.

Bicycle Racing News and Opinion,

Friday, July 10, 2026

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