2026 Tour de France Stage 3 Results & Recap
Stage 3 of the 2026 Tour de France is in the books. The final results and standings are below, followed by our recap of how the race unfolded.
Race Recap
On paper, this looked like a stage for a breakaway. Halfway through the stage it looked even more like a stage for a breakaway, especially one powered by 18 riders. But at that point, UAE Team Emirates XRG went to the front of the bunch and began a relentless chase, working through their riders until the break was caught, then having Isaac Del Toro (UEX) set the pace for Tadej Pogačar (UEX) on the final 1.6km ramp up to the finish.
Del Toro's tempo prevented anyone from escaping UAE's clutches until, just inside 400m to go, Pogačar rocketed by on his right. He got a gap immediately and held it to the line, where he claimed his 22nd Tour stage win and with it the yellow jersey.
Although race leader Jonas Vingegaard (TVL) was second, just two seconds down, the time bonuses and the few tenths of a second between the pair in Saturday's team time trial meant that Pogačar leapfrogged the Dane to the top of the general classification.
Richard Carapaz (EFE) finished third, just behind Vingegaard, and with Paul Seixas (DCT) in close attendance. There was a gap of another couple of seconds back to the other GC hitters, including Remco Evenepoel (RBH) and Juan Ayuso (LTK).
With the odds favoring a breakaway, most of the teams wanted to be in it. As a consequence, there were 70km of attacks and counters before the break went clear. Egan Bernal (NCI) was among those who instigated it, but the 2019 champion's hopes of success disappeared when he punctured and had to drop back to the peloton.
On the first-cat ascent of the Col de Toses, the 18-man leading group was trimmed to six – Alex Baudin (EFE), Nicolas Prodhomme (DCT), Raúl García Pierna (MOV), Matteo Vercher (TEN), Vlad Van Mechelen (TBV) and George Bennett (NSN). At the top of it, what had been a four-minute lead had been trimmed to 1'45".
As the bunch continued to close, Baudin attacked early on the next climb, the cat 3 Col du Calvaire, Prodhomme the only able to chase across and join him. Behind, as Florian Vermeersch handed chasing duties to Tim Wellens, who passed them to Nils Politt, who gave them to Felix Großschartner, the gap tumbled to 30 seconds.
Prodhomme sat up and waited so that he could work for Seixas. Baudin, though, ploughed bravely on, knowing the inevitable catch was coming. It duly happened 10km from home, when UAE still had four riders to help their leader.
When their train is moving at that kind of speed knowing that Pogačar will almost certainly deliver at the final (ski) station, there's not much anyone can do to stop it.
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