Tadej Pogacar underlined his dominance at the Tour de France 2026 with a commanding victory on stage 10, held on Bastille Day. The UAE Team Emirates-XRG rider attacked on the Col de Pertus and soloed to the finish in Le Lioran, extending his overall lead to 3 minutes 36 seconds over defending champion Jonas Vingegaard (Team Visma-Lease a Bike).
Stage 10 Result
Pogacar completed the 159-kilometer stage in 3 hours 58 minutes 8 seconds, winning by 32 seconds over Remco Evenepoel (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe). Paul Seixas (Decathlon CMA CGM) finished third at 34 seconds, followed by Florian Lipowitz (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) and Juan Ayuso (Lidl-Trek) at 34 and 38 seconds respectively. Vingegaard finished seventh at 44 seconds.
General Classification After Stage 10
Pogacar now leads the general classification with a time of 36 hours 15 minutes 2 seconds. Vingegaard is second at 3 minutes 36 seconds, Evenepoel third at 4 minutes 6 seconds, Ayuso fourth at 4 minutes 22 seconds, and Seixas fifth at 4 minutes 35 seconds. Isaac Del Toro (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) dropped to seventh at 5 minutes 8 seconds after struggling on the final climb.
Decisive Attack on the Col de Pertus
With 15 kilometers to go, Pogacar launched a devastating attack on the Col de Pertus, a category-one climb. Vingegaard could not respond, and Pogacar quickly bridged to lone leader Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost), dropping him with ease. "Is Vingegaard going to put the hurt on Pogacar here?" commentator Rob Hatch asked moments before the attack. "Stupid question," he added as Pogacar surged away. Carapaz, who had attacked earlier, was caught and eventually finished 11th.
Evenepoel's Fightback
Evenepoel appeared to struggle when the pace increased, losing contact with the group of favorites. However, he fought back to take second place, earning praise. "Chapeau to Evenepoel for that fightback," noted the live blog. "He looked absolutely done when he lost contact with that group of favorites."
Pogacar's Dominance
Pogacar's win was his 24th career Tour de France stage victory. Commentator Jonathan Vaughters said: "He wants to win with panache. He wants to put it away early. He wants to be the most dominant rider ever at the Tour de France." The stage was raced at an average speed of 42 km/h, described as an "infernal pace" by commentator Sean Kelly.
Key Moments
Javier Romo (Movistar) was caught by the yellow jersey group with 38 kilometers to go after a long solo break. Carapaz attacked shortly after, building a lead of over a minute before being caught by Pogacar. The stage featured climbs including the Pas de Peyrol, Col de Pertus, and Col de Font de Cère.
Quotes and Analysis
Vaughters, also manager of EF Education-EasyPost, said of Carapaz's attack: "He's very instinctive. I don't know if it'll work or not, but it's more fun than watching the same old, same old for the next hour." A fan emailed: "More dominance from Pog. But what will live in the memory is Carapaz's absolutely uninsurable descent. If I were his mum I would ground him for a week."
