Tadej Pogacar powered alone to the summit of the mighty Col du Tourmalet, deep in the Hautes-Pyrénées, and rode on to victory on stage six to Gavarnie-Gèdre, taking an emphatic overall lead in the 2026 Tour de France. In the shadow of the towering cliffs of the Cirque de Gavarnie, and under the gaze of French President Emmanuel Macron, Pogacar was imperious. Only his perennial rival, Jonas Vingegaard, was able to give chase, but by the end of the stage even his resistance seemed futile.
Pogacar's Solo Raid Crushes Rivals
All the labels that have been applied to Pogacar – ogre, monster, beast – were appropriate as he embarked on another of his trademark solo raids, crushing the morale of his opponents yet again. A lead of under half a minute at La Mongie ski station became the best part of three minutes by the time he reached Gavarnie-Gèdre. An increasingly listless Vingegaard did not even bother sprinting for the finish line, ceding 2:38 to the leader.
After the stage, Pogacar was compared to Michael Jordan, although the rider himself cited Usain Bolt. “Seeing him being so dominant was crazy,” he said, “and in tennis, Novak Djokovic. He’s on another level.” It will take a lot to stop Pogacar claiming his fifth overall win in Paris on 26 July. He is now the fifth most prolific stage winner in the history of the Tour, with 23 wins, including 11 in the Pyrenees. If Eddy Merckx was the Cannibal, then, with more stage wins likely to come, Pogacar’s new sobriquet could be the Glutton.
Team UAE Sets Infernal Pace on Tourmalet
Despite being pursued by Vingegaard and, further behind, a group of eight containing Olympic time trial champion Remco Evenepoel and French favourite Paul Seixas, Pogacar's lead on the descent from the Tourmalet grew kilometre by kilometre. With two stages won already, and one gifted to his teammate Isaac del Toro, he is already in full control. The pace set by Pogacar’s UAE Team Emirates XRG team at the foot of the Tourmalet was infernal. The 17 kilometres of climbing provided a platform for Pogacar and a graveyard for others, including the then-race leader Torstein Traeen, whose second day in yellow was a nightmare. By the midway point of the interminable climb, the peloton had been reduced to 16 riders. Among those unable to keep pace was Thymen Arensman, leading the Netcompany Ineos team in the absence of the injured Oscar Onley, and Tom Pidcock of Pinarello Q36.5.
Five kilometres from the summit of the Tourmalet, as the lead group entered La Mongie, Pogacar and Del Toro moved ahead, with the four-time winner then pushing on alone. If Vingegaard’s pursuit initially limited the damage on the climb’s final ramps, Pogacar’s attack put the hype around Seixas into perspective. The French rider who had traded blows with the Slovenian in April had no response and slipped further behind.
Psychological and Physical Dominance
Pogacar’s advantage over the peloton is now both physical and psychological. Faced with such domination, few of his rivals will risk taking him on. Most will now settle for a podium or top-five position. The end of the 2026 Tour’s first week already feels like the end of week two in any other year. The combination of Pogacar’s dominance, the Pyrenean climbs, and the stifling heat is already taking its toll, with the number of abandons steadily increasing day by day. Among them was Cian Uijtdebroeks of the Movistar team, once spoken of in the same glowing terms as Seixas, but who had suffered gastrointestinal problems and a fever since the race started.
For Traeen it was a calamitous day. His prophecy of losing touch proved correct and, with 11km remaining on the Tourmalet, the overnight leader fell behind the group of favourites. By the top of the climb, he was far behind the Slovenian. Worse came on the descent of the Tourmalet when Traeen clipped the wheel of his teammate Anders Halland Johannessen’s bike in front of him and was catapulted onto the road. After spending some time being tended to by doctors, he gingerly remounted and finished the stage almost 30 minutes behind the irrepressible Pogacar. His Uno-X Mobility team later announced the 30-year-old Norwegian had pulled out of the race after suffering a concussion and multiple rib fractures.
