Tadej Pogačar won stage 10 of the 2026 Tour de France at Le Lioran, attacking on the Col de Pertus before riding alone through the final climbs to take his third stage victory of the race. The UAE Team Emirates-XRG rider moved with just over 15 kilometres remaining, caught and passed Richard Carapaz near the summit, then extended his lead all the way to the finish.
Remco Evenepoel finished second at 32 seconds after briefly struggling on the final climb, while Paul Seixas took third at 34 seconds on Bastille Day. Florian Lipowitz finished on the same time as Seixas, with Juan Ayuso and Mattias Skjelmose at 38 seconds. Jonas Vingegaard was seventh at 44 seconds, losing more ground to Pogačar in the general classification.
Pogačar now leads the Tour by 3:36 over Vingegaard, with Evenepoel third at 4:06, Ayuso fourth at 4:22 and Seixas fifth at 4:35. Isaac del Toro, who had started the day third overall, cracked late and finished 1:31 down on the stage.
Photo Credit: GettyA Bastille Day battle in the Massif Central
Stage 10 took the race over 166.6 kilometres from Aurillac to Le Lioran, with seven categorised climbs and 3,800 metres of elevation gain. On paper it was not an Alpine or Pyrenean giant, but it was exactly the kind of rolling, sharp, cumulative stage where the Tour can become difficult to control.
It also came on Bastille Day, adding a clear French hook to an already aggressive route. The host nation still had no stage win in this Tour, and with riders such as Paul Seixas, Valentin Paret-Peintre, Alex Baudin, Romain Grégoire, Kévin Vauquelin and Jordan Jegat all suited to the terrain, the motivation was obvious.
The final 36 kilometres followed familiar ground from the 2024 Tour, when Pogačar attacked on the Puy Mary before Vingegaard clawed him back on the Col de Pertus and beat him in the sprint at Le Lioran. This time, Pogačar waited longer, attacked harder and left nobody with the chance to come back.
The stage began with 175 riders after Matteo Trentin did not start because of fever. The heat was again a factor, and the opening kilometres were raced as if half the peloton had circled the stage as a chance to get up the road.
Lidl-Trek make the first move for Pedersen
The intermediate sprint came early, at Lacapelle-del-Fraisse after 25.5 kilometres, and Lidl-Trek controlled the race with one clear aim: more points for Mads Pedersen in green.
Pedersen had a brief early bike change, but was quickly back and his team then took over on the rolling approach. Quinn Simmons and the rest of Lidl-Trek kept the pace high enough to split the bunch on an unclassified rise, putting several rivals under pressure before the sprint had even arrived.
There was a moment of tension when Pogačar was caught behind a small split and had to bridge across himself. Vingegaard was also briefly in a second group, but the race came back together before the sprint.
Pedersen then beat Max Kanter in a tight uphill sprint, with Biniam Girmay third, Jasper Philipsen fourth and Michael Matthews fifth. Van der Poel also scored from sixth, while Tim Merlier, winner of stages 7 and 8, was already dropped and unable to add to his points total.
It was a small but important win for Pedersen. The day would soon become too hard for the pure sprinters, but he had already banked another 25 points before the breakaway fight properly began.
A huge breakaway finally forms
After the sprint, the attacks came from everywhere. Van der Poel went immediately with Harold Tejada and Matthews. Netcompany INEOS then launched a powerful move through Josh Tarling, Michal Kwiatkowski and Tobias Foss, with Richard Carapaz, George Bennett, Nelson Oliveira, Michel Hessmann, Alex Aranburu, Ewen Costiou and others joining.
That move was brought back, but it set the tone. A dozen riders went, then another group, then another. Mathieu van der Poel, Kévin Vauquelin, Guillaume Martin-Guyonnet, Valentin Paret-Peintre, Alex Baudin, Ben Healy, Romain Grégoire and several others all appeared near the front during the long, unsettled opening.
Eventually, around 31 riders formed the main breakaway. It included Baudin and Healy for EF Education-EasyPost; Higuita, Tejada and Velasco for XDS Astana; Arensman and Vauquelin for Netcompany INEOS; Paret-Peintre and Louis Vervaeke for Soudal Quick-Step; Debruyne and Van der Poel for Alpecin-Premier Tech; Ben O’Connor and Luke Plapp for Team Jayco AlUla; Jonas Abrahamsen for Uno-X Mobility; Javier Romo, Raúl García Pierna and Jefferson Cepeda for Movistar; Ion Izagirre and Benjamin Thomas for Cofidis; Fred Wright and Xabier Mikel Azparren for Pinarello-Q36.5; plus riders from Groupama-FDJ United, Tudor, TotalEnergies and Caja Rural-Seguros RGA.
It was a strong group, but not a free one. Jordan Jegat and Ramses Debruyne were both inside the top 20 overall, and UAE Team Emirates-XRG had no interest in letting the gap grow. Nils Politt and Florian Vermeersch kept the break close, with the margin only around 50 seconds as the first categorised climb approached.
Paret-Peintre starts the KOM fight
The Côte de Pailherols, 3 kilometres at 7.2 per cent, was the first classified climb of the day. Soudal Quick-Step used Vervaeke to set up Paret-Peintre, who took the first KOM points ahead of his teammate.
That confirmed one of the breakaway’s subplots. Paret-Peintre was not just riding for the stage. He was also collecting points in the mountains classification, and with Vervaeke alongside him he had a teammate willing to help manage the break on the climbs.
The pace immediately started to split the escape. Riders such as Guillaume Martin-Guyonnet and Marco Frigo were dropped from the front group, while Merlier’s group was already several minutes behind the peloton.
Then Romo and Tejada pushed clear after the summit, with Healy, Higuita and Vervaeke forming a chase behind. The original breakaway began to fragment, but UAE kept the peloton close enough to stop any group from feeling secure.
Romo goes solo through the middle climbs
The second climb, the Col de la Griffoul, 5.9 kilometres at 6.7 per cent, broke the front of the race further. Romo dropped Tejada with around 5 kilometres of climbing still to go and began what became the main breakaway effort of the day.
Behind him, Healy and Vervaeke distanced Higuita, while Baudin, Paret-Peintre and Debruyne later came across from the larger chase. Romo crested the Col de la Griffoul first, taking 5 points, with Paret-Peintre, Baudin and Debruyne collecting the remaining points behind.
By now the peloton was still only about a minute back. Tim Wellens had taken over for UAE, followed by Großschartner, Del Toro and Pogačar, with Team Visma | Lease a Bike lined up behind.
Romo continued alone onto the Col de Prat de Bouc, 3.1 kilometres at 6.5 per cent. He took those points too, while Paret-Peintre just held on for the final point behind. By that stage almost everyone else from the break had been caught or was on the verge of being brought back.
The Movistar rider then tackled the Côte de Murat, 5.2 kilometres at 5.3 per cent, still alone at the front. He led over that climb as well, but his gap had shrunk to around 45 seconds. UAE had made the day too hard for the break to breathe.
Carapaz attacks on Puy Mary
The real GC phase began on the Puy Mary – Pas de Peyrol, a category 1 climb of 7.8 kilometres at 6 per cent. Romo was still ahead at the bottom, but his long effort was almost over.
Carapaz attacked with 7 kilometres to the summit, just as Romo was caught. The EF Education-EasyPost climber quickly opened 15 seconds, then stretched that to 30 seconds while UAE maintained a steady but punishing pace behind.
Großschartner was still working for Pogačar, followed by Adam Yates, Brandon McNulty, Del Toro and the yellow jersey. As the gradient steepened in the final 2 kilometres, the main group began to shed riders. Matthew Riccitello, Sepp Kuss and Matteo Jorgenson were distanced near the top, while Nicolas Prodhomme moved up for Decathlon CMA CGM with Seixas on his wheel.
Carapaz reached the summit first, taking 10 points and laying the foundations for a possible polka-dot jersey challenge. Prodhomme followed for 8 points, then Seixas, Del Toro, Pogačar and Vingegaard. The GC group was down to around 20 riders, with the breakaway story almost fully replaced by the favourites’ race.
Crashes on the Puy Mary descent
The descent from the Puy Mary was technical and immediately caused problems. Tom Pidcock, Matteo Jorgenson and Chris Harper all crashed, with Harper appearing the most affected. Pidcock and Jorgenson remounted and resumed racing, and Pidcock later returned to the GC group.
Carapaz used the descent to push his lead out again. By 24 kilometres to go he had around 40 seconds, and by the foot of the Col de Pertus his advantage was close to a minute.
That mattered because the Pertus was the climb everyone expected to decide the stage. It is only 4.4 kilometres long, but at 8.5 per cent it is steep enough for Pogačar to make a race-winning difference. It was also the climb where Vingegaard had clawed him back in 2024.
This time, Carapaz had the lead, UAE still had numbers and Vingegaard’s team were trying to keep him in position. The question was no longer whether Pogačar would attack, but how late he would wait.
Pogačar strikes on Col de Pertus
Adam Yates led the reduced GC group onto the Pertus, about 1:15 behind Carapaz. The pace initially steadied, allowing the Ecuadorian to hold his advantage, but the group began to shrink again when Prodhomme and Yates lifted the speed.
Skjelmose and Bernal were briefly distanced, McNulty was dropped, and later Davide Piganzoli took over for Team Visma | Lease a Bike. His acceleration hurt the group and distanced Yates, McNulty and Ilan Van Wilder.
Then, with around 1 kilometre to the summit, Pogačar attacked.
Nobody followed. Vingegaard was the first chaser, but the gap opened almost immediately. Pogačar surged across to Carapaz, passed him 200 metres before the summit and led over the top. Carapaz followed 5 seconds down, with Vingegaard, Evenepoel, Lipowitz, Ayuso, Seixas and Skjelmose at 18 seconds. Del Toro was already losing ground at 35 seconds.
That was the decisive move of the day. Pogačar had waited until the steepest, most consequential climb, attacked once, and instantly broke the race into pieces.
Evenepoel struggles as Pogačar extends
Pogačar was warned by the UAE car not to take risks on the descent, but he still increased his lead. Carapaz briefly held close behind, but the Vingegaard group began to reel him in while Pogačar stayed clear.
With 10 kilometres to go, Pogačar had around 17 seconds over the Vingegaard group, with Carapaz just ahead of them and Del Toro slipping further back. The road then rose again on the Col de Font de Cère, 3.1 kilometres at 5.8 per cent.
Vingegaard took up the chase, while Lipowitz also pressed on. Evenepoel began to struggle on the climb and was briefly distanced from the group containing Vingegaard, Lipowitz, Seixas, Ayuso and Skjelmose.
Pogačar kept adding seconds. At the summit of the Col de Font de Cère he had around 35 seconds, with Evenepoel digging deep behind and Del Toro almost a minute behind the Vingegaard group. There was still a short descent and a final 500-metre kick at 7.4 per cent to the line, but the stage was already in Pogačar’s hands.
Pogačar wins again on Bastille Day
Pogačar went under the flamme rouge with just under 40 seconds in hand and finished alone in Le Lioran, taking his 24th Tour de France stage victory and his third win of the 2026 race.
It was also his third Tour stage win on 14 July, after Col du Portet in 2021 and Plateau de Beille in 2024. No other rider has won three Tour stages on Bastille Day, adding another line to a record that already looks increasingly historical.
Evenepoel recovered enough to finish second at 32 seconds, limiting his losses better than had seemed likely when he was distanced on the final climb. Seixas took third at 34 seconds, a significant Bastille Day podium for the French teenager, with Lipowitz fourth on the same time.
Ayuso and Skjelmose followed at 38 seconds, while Vingegaard was seventh at 44 seconds. Del Toro, who had been third overall at the start of the day, finished eighth at 1:31 after cracking late.
Vingegaard loses more ground
The key GC consequence was another expansion of Pogačar’s lead. Vingegaard had started the day 2:42 down. He ended it at 3:36, having lost 44 seconds on the road plus the 10-second winner’s bonus taken by Pogačar.
Evenepoel remains third overall at 4:06, having gained a stage bonus for second but still losing time to the yellow jersey. Ayuso moved to fourth at 4:22, while Seixas rose to fifth at 4:35 after another composed ride on terrain that suited his climbing punch.
Del Toro was the big loser among the top riders. UAE still won the stage, but their young Mexican rider slipped out of the top five after losing 1:31 to Pogačar. His earlier position on GC had been built on consistency and strength, but the repeated climbs and final accelerations at Le Lioran exposed him.
Vingegaard’s loss was smaller than the Tourmalet damage on stage 6, but it was another clear defeat. He was able to chase, able to limit the gap, but not able to follow the one acceleration that mattered.
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Photo Credit: Luc Claessen/ISPA
Seixas gives France a Bastille Day podium
France did not get its Bastille Day stage win, but Seixas gave the home crowd something to hold onto. The Decathlon CMA CGM rider finished third on the day, stayed with the best of the chase group and moved into the top five overall.
That was a major ride in the context of his Tour. He had already shown that his GC challenge was serious, but Le Lioran asked a different question. This was not a long, steady mountain effort. It was a hot, jagged day after the rest day, full of accelerations, descents and repeated short climbs.
Seixas handled it. He was positioned when Prodhomme lifted the pace on Puy Mary, survived the Pertus selection and then had enough left to finish third behind Pogačar and Evenepoel.
On a day built around French hopes, with Carapaz taking the combativity prize and several French riders active in the break, Seixas was the clearest home success. The stage win went abroad again, but France now has a rider in fifth overall after one of the most difficult finishes of the race.
Carapaz takes combativity and KOM momentum
Carapaz did not win the stage, but his attack on Puy Mary shaped the final hour. He ended Romo’s long solo resistance, forced UAE and the GC favourites to react, and took maximum points over the Puy Mary.
He was later caught and dropped by Pogačar on the Col de Pertus, then swallowed by the chase group, but his aggression earned him the combativity prize and changed the mountains classification picture.
It was the kind of move EF Education-EasyPost needed. Baudin had already been active earlier in the Tour, Healy had been in moves, and Carapaz now added a proper high-profile attack on one of the most important climbs of the day.
Romo also deserved his part in the story. The Movistar rider drove the breakaway through the middle of the stage, taking points over the Col de la Griffoul, Col de Prat de Bouc and Côte de Murat before being caught on Puy Mary. His ride kept the break alive long after UAE’s chase had made it look doomed.
UAE control, Pogačar finishes
This was another UAE Team Emirates-XRG stage built around control and execution. Politt and Vermeersch kept the break close early. Wellens and Großschartner squeezed the gap through the middle climbs. Yates and McNulty were used deeper in the stage. Del Toro was still there until the final sequence, even if he later paid for the effort.
The plan was clear: do not let a breakaway disappear, wear the race down, and leave Pogačar in position to attack on the Pertus. It was almost the opposite of his long-range Tourmalet demolition. This was shorter, more precise and more about choosing the exact climb where Vingegaard could not respond.
It also carried a hint of revenge. The final roads were where Vingegaard had beaten Pogačar two years earlier. This time, Pogačar made sure there was no sprint between them.
The result is another stage win, a bigger yellow jersey lead and another psychological hit before the race turns towards the next phase. Pogačar has now won on the Tourmalet stage, won at Le Lioran and pulled Vingegaard further away from yellow.
Tour de France 2026 stage 10 result
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Main photo credit: Getty
