Pogačar breaks Tourmalet climbing record in Stage 6 win

Tadej Pogačar turned the first major mountain day of the 2026 Tour de France into a race-shaping attack. The UAE Team Emirates-XRG rider won Stage 6 from Pau to Gavarnie-Gèdre on Thursday after accelerating on the Col du Tourmalet and riding the final 43 kilometers alone. The official Tour de France race report said the move gave Pogačar his 23rd career Tour stage win and returned the yellow jersey to the four-time champion. Reuters reported that Jonas Vingegaard finished second, with Pogačar’s teammate Isaac del Toro third. ### Where did Pogačar make the decisive move? The Col du Tourmalet was the point where the stage broke open. The official Tour report said Pogačar attacked on the slopes of the climb and reached the summit first, becoming the first reigning world champion to take the Tourmalet KOM in the Tour. Reuters said Vingegaard could not follow during the 17.1-km ascent and was already 30 seconds down at the top. (letour.fr) Stage 6 covered 186.2 km from Pau to Gavarnie-Gèdre and included more than 4,000 meters of elevation gain, according to the Tour’s stage report. Reuters described the climb as one of cycling’s hardest and said UAE Team Emirates-XRG kept its riders at the front through the early climbs before Pogačar attacked. (letour.fr) ### How big was the gap at the finish? Gavarnie-Gèdre was where the time losses became decisive. The official Tour report listed Pogačar as the winner after 4:32:07, with Vingegaard second at 2 minutes 38 seconds and Isaac del Toro third at 2:57. Reuters’ race report put Vingegaard at 2:42 behind, a small discrepancy that can appear between immediate race reporting and official timing updates, but both reports showed a margin of well over two minutes. (letour.fr) The 43-km solo run was also a personal benchmark. The Tour’s official report said it was Pogačar’s longest solo effort to a Tour stage win and his second stage victory in this year’s race. That win total moved him past André Darrigade on the all-time Tour stage list, according to the same report. (letour.fr) ### What happened to the yellow jersey battle? Torstein Træen lost the race lead on the Tourmalet stage. The official Tour report said Pogačar took the maillot jaune from Træen after the Norwegian crashed on the descent from the Tourmalet but finished the stage. Reuters said Træen had started the day 7 minutes 53 seconds ahead of Pogačar, slowed on the climb, then crashed after touching wheels with Uno-X Mobility teammate Anders Johannessen. (letour.fr) Pogačar addressed Træen after the finish. Reuters quoted the Slovenian as saying: “A really incredible victory, one of the sweetest for sure,” before adding that he would have preferred Træen to keep yellow if the Norwegian had not crashed. Vingegaard, who remains second overall, told Reuters: “Obviously I’m disappointed, I have to be, but it’s life, I cannot change it.” (letour.fr) ### Why was the Tourmalet time getting so much attention? The Tourmalet climb carried two layers of significance on Thursday. The user-provided reporting from The Athletic said Pogačar broke the Tourmalet climbing record, while the official Tour report confirmed the attack on the iconic ascent and his summit first place. The Tour’s own account did not publish the record time in the material reviewed here, but it did describe the ride as one of the most impressive feats of Pogačar’s Tour career. (thestar.com.my) Reuters added another marker of rarity. Its report said Pogačar became the first reigning world champion to conquer the Tourmalet in the Tour, underscoring how unusual it is for the rainbow jersey holder to dominate that climb in race conditions. (letour.fr) ### What comes next after the Pyrenees stage? Stage 7 is scheduled for Friday, July 10, and the route shifts from climbing to sprint terrain. The official Tour race center lists a 175.1-km stage from Hagetmau to Bordeaux. Olympics.com’s stage preview said the day should favor sprinters after the Pyrenean test, with only one categorized climb on the route. (racecenter.letour.fr) (thestar.com.my)