'Nothing to lose, if we explode we explode' – Tadej Pogačar destroys field in Pyrenees on stage 6 of Tour de France to take win and yellow jersey
World champion puts stamp on race in first proper mountain test of year
Tadej Pogačar stormed to victory on stage six of the 2026 Tour de France, ripping up the general classification in the process, and taking back the yellow jersey on Thursday.
The UAE Team Emirates-XRG rider flew away on the Col du Tourmalet, 43km from the finish, and put over two minutes into his closest rival, Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike), by the finish. It is his 23rd stage win at the race, and second of this Tour already.
Pogačar won the Souvenir Jacques Goddet over the top of the Tourmalet, with just 30 seconds on Vingegaard, but pushed on down the descent and on the final climb to Gavarnie-Gèdre. Meanwhile, previous yellow jersey Torstein Træen (Uno-X Mobility) crashed after losing time, ending his time in the race lead. Isaac del Toro (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) finished third.
Del Toro was part of a chase group including the other main favourites, like Remco Evenepoel and Florian Lipowitz (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) and Paul Seixas (Decathlon CMA CGM), which finished 2:57 behind the winner.
Pogačar now leads the race by 2:42 over Vingegaard, just six days into this Tour.
"I think top five, I would say," the world champion said when asked where he would rank this win. "I got flashbacks to the stage with the Tourmalet in 2023 when I broke my hand. I got a lot of flashbacks, it was a similar finish. It was a really incredible victory, one of the sweetest for sure.
"Yesterday on the bus when we were coming from the stage with the guys, there was a lot of hype already talking about today’s stage," he continued. "Today I woke up at 7 and my mind was going crazy already, I was really excited for today. All the guys were really hyped, so I knew it was going to be a good day. We just committed, we were going like nothing to lose, if we explode we explode. In the end, we succeeded and I’m super proud of everyone today, it was crazy teamwork."
As for whether he planned to decimate the race, he said: "In my mind I left everything to coincidence. Whatever happens happens, I was not calculating minutes or seconds, I just wanted to go all the way to the finish full gas.
"I think I would not take the yellow jersey today, because Torstein crashed on the Tourmalet. It’s a shit downhill, really dangerous if you miss a corner. I hope he’s ok. I would still prefer if he would keep the jersey today, so I hope he recovers fast and can continue racing."
The day's early break began with Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) surging up the road in search of points, follows Huub Artz (Lotto Intermarché) and Victor Campenaerts (Visma-Lease a Bike).
The only notable thing to happen early on was Artz being pulled up by the race jury over his position on his handlebars, which ended up with the Belgian dropping out of the break.
With 135km to go, the bunch split up on the Côte de Loucrup, the first classified climb of the day. Visma-Lease a Bike applied a lot of pressure to the front of the peloton, with Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) briefly looking isolated.
Remco Evenepoel (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) was briefly distanced after he stopped for a nature break, and the peloton pressed on.
Once Pedersen won the intermediate sprint, he sat up and was caught with 123km to go. Immediately, the action to try and get into the day’s next break began, especially at the race headed onto the Côte de Mauvezin. However, with a lot of action at the front of the peloton, it proved difficult to establish anything significant. Ben O’Connor (Jayco AlUla) and Xabier Mikel Azparren (Pinarello Q36.5) headed up the road, before O’Connor forged on alone.
The Australian built up a lead of over a minute approaching the Col d’Aspin, the opening first-category climb of the race. On the Aspin, UAE Team Emirates-XRG took to the front of the peloton, and O’Connor was caught with 73km to go.
Lenny Martinez (Bahrain Victorious) won the KOM sprint at the top of the Aspin, ahead of Valentin Paret-Peintre (Soudal Quick-Step). On the next climb, the hors categorie Col du Tourmalet, the front of the race got dramatically smaller. Among those dropped under pressure from UAE was Torstein Træen (Uno-X Mobility), the yellow jersey, who was dropped. Next to go was Jai Hindley (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) and Tom Pidcock (Pinarello Q36.5).
Just 14 riders remained in the front group with 5.5km to go on the Tourmalet, three UAE riders including Isaac del Toro and Pogačar, Jonas Vingegaard and Sepp Kuss (Visma-Lease a Bike), Remco Evenepoel and Florian Lipowitz (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe), Juan Ayuso and Mattias Skjelsmose (Lidl-Trek), Paul Seixas (Decathlon CMA CGM), Martinez, Egan Bernal (Netcompany-Ineos) and Tobias Halland Johannessen (Uno-X Mobility).
Yates dropped back, then Del Toro took over. The UAE pair moved clear, shadowed by Vingegaard, Lipowitz and Seixas, with Evenepoel further back. Pogačar pressed on alone 4.1km from the top, as Vingegaard, followed by Lipowitz and then Del Toro, sought to fight back.
Over the top of the Tourmalet, Pogačar had half a minute on Vingegaard, a gap which only extended on the descent. Meanwhile, Træen was over seven minutes back, looking like he was heading out of the yellow jersey. A crash on the descent then fully ended his yellow dream.
The chase group including Seixas, Lipowtiz, Evenepoel and others swelled with just over 27km to go. On the final climb of the day, Pogačar’s lead to Vingegaard ballooned to over 90 seconds, with the group of other chasers another 40 seconds behind.
Results
Tour de France 2026 stage six: Pau > Gavarnie-Gèdre (186.2km)
1. Tadej Pogačar (Slo) UAE Team Emirates-XRG, in 4:32:07
2. Jonas Vingegaard (Den) Visma-Lease a Bike, +2:38
3. Isaac del Toro (Mex) UAE Team Emirates-XRG, +2:57
4. Remco Evenepoel (Bel) Redu Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe
5. Paul Seixas (Fra) Decathlon CMA CGM
6. Florian Lipowitz (Ger) Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe
7. Juan Ayuso (Esp) Lidl-Trek
8. Mattias Skjelmose (Den) Lidl-Trek, all at same time
9. Lenny Martinez (Fra) Bahrain Victorious, +3:02
10. Sepp Kuss (USA) Visma-Lease a Bike, +3:06
General classification after stage six
1. Tadej Pogačar (Slo) UAE Team Emirates-XRG, in 21:11:57
2. Jonas Vingegaard (Den) Visma-Lease a Bike, +2:42
3. Isaac del Toro (Mex) UAE Team Emirates-XRG, +3:27
4. Remco Evenepoel (Bel) Redu Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe, +3:30
5. Juan Ayuso (Esp) Lidl-Trek, +3:34
6. Paul Seixas (Fra) Decathlon CMA CGM, +3:55
7. Florian Lipowitz (Ger) Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe, +4:00
8. Lenny Martinez (Fra) Bahrain Victorious, +4:21
9. Mattias Skjelmose (Den) Lidl-Trek,+4:57
10. Mathias Vacek (Cze) Lidl-Trek, +7:10
