2026 Tour de France Femmes Stage 3 Results & Recap
Stage 3 of the 2026 Tour de France Femmes is in the books. The final results and standings are below, followed by our recap of how the race unfolded.
Race Recap
Haugset makes history at Tour de France Femmes
Sigrid Ytterhus Haugset (Uno-X Mobility) claimed the biggest victory of her career with a fearless solo ride to win Stage 3 of the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift and pull on the yellow jersey in Poligny. The Norwegian national champion attacked from an elite breakaway after the day's opening climbs and never looked back, resisting a long-range pursuit from world champion Lotte Kopecky (SD Worx-Protime) before crossing the line 1:24 ahead of the Belgian. Marianne Vos (Visma | Lease a Bike) won the sprint from the reduced favorites' group to round out the podium.
The 154-kilometer stage exploded almost immediately on the Category 1 Col de la Faucille, where Lorena Wiebes lost contact with the peloton, ending her reign in the yellow jersey. Puck Pieterse (Fenix-Deceuninck) surged over the summit first to move into the lead of the mountains classification, while the relentless pace split the field into several groups. A select break eventually formed over the opening climbs, with Haugset, Kopecky, Lucinda Brand, Liane Lippert, Loes Adegeest, Justine Ghekiere, Femke de Vries, Célia Gery, Rosa Maria Klöser, Nienke Vinke and Yara Kastelijn driving the race clear.
Haugset launched her decisive move before the final 70 kilometers, steadily extending her advantage as the race left the high mountains behind. Kopecky eventually gave chase alone, but despite closing to within seconds at times, she could never bridge across. Behind them, the general classification favorites hesitated, with Demi Vollering, Kim Le Court-Pienaar, Pauline Ferrand-Prévot, Katarzyna Niewiadoma-Phinney and Elisa Longo Borghini marking one another rather than committing to a full pursuit.
The final classified climb sparked another round of attacks, with Vollering accelerating inside the last five kilometers and Le Court-Pienaar immediately responding as the battle for the overall classification intensified. Marianne Vos' group eventually rejoined the favorites to form a reduced peloton of around 30 riders, but by then Haugset had already built an unassailable advantage. Smiling as she entered the final kilometer, the Norwegian celebrated both her maiden Tour stage victory and the yellow jersey after one of the standout rides of the race so far.
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