Results Tour de France 2026 Stage 3 - Tadej Pogacar blasts rivals apart at Les Angles and lands blow to Vingegaard, Evenepoel & Seixas
CyclingMonday, 06 July 2026 at 17:19
Tadej Pogacar has taken victory on stage 3 of the 2026 Tour de France, powering clear of his general classification rivals on the final rise to Les Angles after UAE Team Emirates – XRG had spent the day dragging the race back from a dangerous breakaway.
The Slovenian was delivered into position by Isaac del Toro inside the final kilometre before launching a sprint that none of his rivals could match. Jonas Vingegaard had started the day in yellow by just six seconds, but after Pogacar’s stage win and the bonus seconds that came with it, the GC battle of this Tour has tightened again.
Baudin turns long breakaway fight into polka dot reward
The first Pyrenean stage of the race began in fierce heat in Granollers, with repeated attacks preventing the race from settling during a rugged opening phase. A crash on the first climb and early splits added to the damage, but the main consequence was that the peloton spent far longer than expected fighting over the composition of the day’s move.
Read also
When the breakaway finally formed, it carried enough quality and enough general classification danger to force a reaction. Alex Baudin, starting the day 1:07 behind Vingegaard, became the virtual yellow jersey once the gap moved beyond two minutes, giving Team Visma | Lease a Bike a reason to keep the escape under control rather than letting the stage drift completely away.
Mads Pedersen also used the move to strike in the points classification, taking maximum points at the intermediate sprint in Campdevanol to move into the virtual green jersey lead ahead of Del Toro. Egan Bernal had been one of the most active riders in the long fight to establish the break, but his challenge ended with a puncture just as the move began to gain ground.
Baudin then shifted his target as UAE began to close in. He took maximum points over the Col de Toses, attacked again on the Col du Calvaire and crested that climb first too, securing the polka dot jersey for stage 4 after a combative day at the front.
UAE reel in escape before Les Angles
The original 19-man move had been gradually stripped down as the stage crossed from Spain into France, where wildfire restrictions had prompted local authorities to ask fans to stay away from the roadside. Crowds were still visible in places, but the finale carried a different feel from a normal Tour mountain stage.
UAE took charge of the chase through the middle and final parts of the stage. Tim Wellens produced a long turn in the valley before Nils Politt, Felix Grossschartner, Brandon McNulty, Adam Yates and Del Toro helped keep the pressure on for Pogacar. By then, Baudin’s yellow-jersey dream had faded, even if his day had already been salvaged through the mountains classification.
Nicolas Prodhomme briefly joined Baudin before sitting up to return to the peloton and support Decathlon CMA CGM Team leader Paul Seixas. Baudin continued alone for as long as he could, but UAE swept him up with around 12 kilometres remaining, ending the breakaway’s stage-winning hopes and handing the race to the favourites.
The heat and terrain had already created damage behind. Romain Gregoire, Ben Healy, Ben O’Connor and Kevin Vauquelin were among those put into difficulty on or after the Col de Toses, while Arnaud de Lie faced a long solo fight near the back of the race after being dropped early.
Del Toro leads out Pogacar before final kick
Once Baudin had been caught, the approach to Les Angles became a positioning fight between the GC teams. UAE still had numbers around Pogacar, but Lidl-Trek moved up for Juan Ayuso and Mattias Skjelmose, Pinarello Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team positioned Tom Pidcock, Decathlon CMA CGM Team kept Seixas in the mix and Visma protected Vingegaard near the front.
The official final climb was only 1.7km at 6.5%, but the road had been rising for several kilometres before that. Sepp Kuss briefly set the tempo with Del Toro, Pogacar and Vingegaard lined up behind, while Remco Evenepoel and Seixas were also still in position as the group stretched towards the final kilometre.
Pogacar had to correct his position after losing a few places around a roundabout following a motorbike manoeuvre, but he moved back up without panic. Del Toro then took over at the front inside the final kilometre, delivering a clear lead-out for Pogacar after his own stage victory in Barcelona 24 hours earlier.
From there, Pogacar finished it himself. Vingegaard was placed on his wheel as the sprint opened, but Pogacar immediately put metres into the rest of the group, taking the stage with a burst that underlined UAE’s control of the day from the chase to the final acceleration.
Vingegaard had begun the stage in yellow, with Pogacar only six seconds behind and Evenepoel, Del Toro and Ayuso all within 20 seconds of the race lead. After Baudin’s long breakaway challenge, UAE’s controlled chase and Pogacar’s final kick, the Tour’s first Pyrenean stage ended with the race’s biggest rivalry already sharpened again.
Carlos Silva is a writer for CiclismoAtual.com and CyclingUpToDate.com, where he contributes race reports, interviews, analysis pieces, and live coverage of the international cycling calendar. Holding a degree in Sports from the Jean Piaget Institute, he combines academic knowledge of performance, training, and competition with hands-on journalism experience in professional cycling.
Throughout his career, Carlos has conducted interviews with leading figures in the sport, including Alberto Contador, Joaquim Rodríguez, Óscar Pereiro, João Almeida, Isaac del Toro, Derek Gee, John Degenkolb and Geraint Thomas. These conversations reflect direct engagement with Grand Tour winners, Classics specialists, and emerging talents.
He has provided on-site coverage at major events ranging from the Vuelta a España to the Tour de France, alongside stage races such as Vuelta a Andalucía, Volta ao Algarve, Volta a Portugal and O Gran Camiño. Covering the mythical climbs of the Giro d'Italia remains one of his professional ambitions.
Carlos is responsible for liveblog coverage of all major WorldTour races and beyond, including the Tour de France, Giro d'Italia and Vuelta a España. His reporting integrates verified data from ProCyclingStats to ensure statistical accuracy, contextual depth, and analytical precision.
A lifelong cycling enthusiast, he approaches storytelling across written, photographic, and video formats with a focus on credibility, tactical insight, and informed race interpretation.
claps 0visitors 0
Just in
Popular news
Latest comments
- Now, if you look at the ProCyclingStats home page, you'll see an intriguing sight. It shows Elite World Champion Tadej Pogačar, having won stage 3 of the Tour de France. Directly below it shows U23 World Champion Lorenzo Finn, having taken his second Pro win in as many days at the Sibiu Tour (a race which was won, in previous years, by Florian Lipowitz and Matthew Riccitello). Of course, both are wearing their rainbow jerseys, but the comparison shows the difference. Finn's jersey looks terrific, with the rainbow bands proudly on his chest. Pogačar's is truly ugly, as the bands have been lowered to make space for the UAE logo, which is the most prominent thing on the jersey. It is not a nice look at all. Nothing against Pogačar, but it is quite disgusting
Rafionain-Glas06-07-2026 - Perhaps the fact that their human rights abuses are regularly named (like you do) means that more people hear about them.RidesHills06-07-2026
- I was expecting bigger gaps both yesterday and today for sure. The stage profiles seemed ideal for Pogi to take serious time, I am surprised to see Jonas right there.DAS06-07-2026
- It also is looking like IdT is legit and is going to help Pogi any time he has any issues. Especially after Pogi gifting him a stage win. Visma is looking weak in comparisonmd197506-07-2026
- 3th, haha. Love the use of language here, the smaller the margins the bigger the title superlatives, was expecting to see at least 30s if not a minute.Jumpyjohn06-07-2026
- Another MU?Jumpyjohn06-07-2026
- he said it himself, he celebrated too muchwhkman06-07-2026
- 37 max along the route, 39, maybe 40 max somewhere in France but not when they pass. Stop getting all overexcited by the weather, a tdf without a few days in the high 30s somewhere is a rare thing as it’s pretty normal in the south of France in July over a 3 week period. Most heat records there are late June, heat is worse in the north due to higher humidity and average temps have risen more away from the med coast. People forget a lot, 3 years ago Paris hosted the rugby WC in a September hotter than this week, nobody afforded the players any pity and they don’t have wind making vehicles to create ventilationJumpyjohn06-07-2026
- Just for the record: Armstrong isn't a former Tour winner. I am sure Gavin Quinn knows that but wants to earn some brownie points with Lance.MaMu06-07-2026
- Today DelToro should have attacked solo 2 km from the top of Toses, to see who will help Vingegaard because Kuss, Piganzoli and Jorgenson certainly won't be able to. I would like to see that show because I know Pogacar wants to have fun. That's fun for him :))mus-musculuspeedypogigonzales06-07-2026
Loading
3 Comments