Tadej Pogacar is the new record-holder on the Col du Tourmalet - But many more have broken the previous top time
Cycling
Florian Lipowitz delivered one of the strongest climbing performances of his career on stage six of the Tour de France 2026. The German clearly smashed the existing record on the Col du Tourmalet and was part of an exceptionally powerful lead group that repeatedly rewrote the legendary benchmark.
Pogacar sets record time on the Tourmalet
The previous Tourmalet record - climbed through Campan, not Luz Saint-Sauver - was previously held by by Tadej Pogacar and Jonas Vingegaard who in 2023 climbed it at a time of 45:35 minutes - at the time, also in the Tour's first week, with a similar stage profile and similar attack from the Dane.
The famous 1993 time by Tony Rominger and Zenon Jaskula was also clearly improved. Rominger and Jaskula needed 45:50 back then. That record stood for 30 years.
Comparación de los tiempos históricos en el Tourmalet
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Tadej Pogacar y Jonas Vingegaard Tour de Francia 2023 – anterior récord45:35 min
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Tony Rominger y Zenon Jaskula Tour de Francia 199345:50 min
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David Gaudu y Pierre Latour Tour de Francia 202147:35 min
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Rafal Majka Tour de Francia 201848:36 min
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Riccardo Ricco Tour de Francia 200849:04 min
Ten riders under the previous mark
The scale of this stage is reflected not only in Pogacar’s ride. According to the available climbing data, as many as ten riders went under the previous 45:35 record. Pogacar has ridden it at 43:13 minutes, setting the new time record and putting in an estimated power of 6.38W/Kg throughout this potentially race-deciding effort.
Jonas Vingegaard posted an extraordinary 43:45 despite his crisis. He finished almost two minutes under the former record, even though he could not follow Pogacar at the front.
Even more eye-catching was Paul Seixas’s ride. With 44:39 he set the third-best time of the day and confirmed he now ranks among the race’s strongest climbers. Isaac Del Toro arrived only seconds later. Lipowitz operated at virtually the same level and was part of that small group that clearly distanced the rest of the Tour elite.
Lenny Martinez stopped the clock at 44:58, Remco Evenepoel at 45:01, and Sepp Kuss at 45:02. Juan Ayuso and Mattias Skjelmose also posted performance values that point to times just under the former record; all of them going through the summit together.
The old benchmark was therefore not toppled by a single rider. An entire lead group shifted the historical reference on the Tourmalet.
For Lipowitz, Ayuso and Skjelmose, these are partly inferred times, as the summary did not display the full ascent time. However, their power, speed and VAM indicate they too would have come in under the previous record.
Full list of the new marks on the Col du Tourmalet
| Position | Rider | Ascent time | Estimated power |
| 1 | Tadej Pogacar | 43:13 | 6.38 W/kg |
| 2 | Jonas Vingegaard | 43:45 | 6.29 W/kg |
| 3 | Paul Seixas | 44:39 | 6.14 W/kg |
| 4 | Isaac Del Toro | 44:44 | 6.13 W/kg |
| 5 | Florian Lipowitz | approx. 44:44 | 6.13 W/kg |
| 6 | Lenny Martinez | 44:58 | 6.09 W/kg |
| 7 | Remco Evenepoel | 45:01 | 6.08 W/kg |
| 8 | Sepp Kuss | 45:02 | 6.08 W/kg |
| 9 | Juan Ayuso | approx. 45:02 | 6.08 W/kg |
| 10 | Mattias Skjelmose | approx. 45:02 | 6.08 W/kg |
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