​Tadej Pogacar took a major stride toward a record-tying fifth Tour de France by delivering a commanding victory on stage six and reclaiming the leader’s yellow jersey. The defending champion set the early pace with a powerful display on the iconic Col du Tourmalet during the first 186.2-kilometer mountain stage that opened the three-week race to its climber’s challenges.
At 27 years old, Pogacar is chasing a place in cycling history alongside legends such as Jacques Anquetil, Eddy Merckx, Bernard Hinault, and Miguel Indurain, aiming to stand as one of the sport’s most successful riders. His attack began five kilometers from the summit of the Tourmalet, and in the ensuing minutes he surged ahead, erasing any doubt about his form. By the time he crested the climb, Pogacar had carved out a 30-second advantage over his main rival Jonas Vingegaard of Denmark, with a more telling margin of 1 minute 45 seconds over Remco Evenepoel of Belgium and French hopeful Paul Seixas of Decathlon CMA CGM, both of whom were still in pursuit but had slipped behind the pace.
Pogacar ultimately crossed the finish line in Gavarnie-Gedre two minutes and 38 seconds clear of Vingegaard, who represents Visma-Leo One. A further 19 seconds behind Vingegaard came Pogacar’s teammate and designated lead domestique, Isaac del Toro of Mexico, followed closely by Evenepoel and Seixas. The stage victory also secures Pogacar the overall leader’s yellow jersey, as he finished a substantial half-hour ahead of the previous wearer, Torstein Traeen of Norway, who had suffered a heavy crash earlier in the stage.
Vingegaard, 29, had no answer to Pogacar’s characteristic explosive start and his precision in pace management, a strategy that consistently chips away at rivals’ time gaps in a steady, metronomic fashion. Vingegaard has been gradually returning to peak form after a serious crash in 2024, an accident that affected his lungs and temporarily interrupted his ascent in the lead-up to the Tour. In the broader context of three-week Grand Tours, Vingegaard recovered to win the other two this season—the Vuelta a Espana in 2024 and the Giro d’Italia in May—each triumph adding to his recent reputation. Yet Thursday’s Tourmalet battle underscored how far the two rivals remain apart since Vingegaard last defeated Pogacar on the Tour in 2023.
“It is one of my top five wins,” Pogacar said afterwards. “I had flashbacks to Tourmalet in 2022 when I had broken my hand. It’s a really incredible victory—one of the sweetest.” He added that waking up with a surge of motivation, at seven o’clock, helped fuel his performance: “I woke up today at seven o’clock and my mind was already going crazy. I was really excited for today—everyone was hyped. I’m super proud of the crazy teamwork.”
The result places Pogacar two minutes and 42 seconds ahead of Vingegaard in the general classification, with Del Toro third, 3 minutes and 27 seconds behind his teammate. Britain’s Tom Pidcock sits 15th in the GC, nine minutes and 50 seconds down after being dropped on the Tourmalet while contending with illness that affected his preparation for the Tour. Still, the 26-year-old remains hopeful about sudden opportunities for stage glory, insisting, “Today, I thought, Tadej can win Tour—and well…” He acknowledged that missing the Suisse race due to illness didn’t help, but he believes the team’s current form remains promising for future stages and possible breakthroughs.