Tadej Pogačar once again proved that he is the strongest rider in the peloton on stage 6 of the Tour de France. After a 42-kilometer solo ride, the Slovenian won the first mountain finish of the tour in Gavarni Giedra. Jonas Vingegaard took second place on the second stage in the Pyrenees, 2:38 minutes back. Pogacar’s UAE teammate Isaac del Toro finished third.
Pogacar had already attacked the penultimate mountain, Col du Tourmalet. His strong UAE team prepared the attack well. None of the riders in the top group were able to follow the 27-year-old rider. The Slovenian continued to increase his advantage on the descent and on the final climb. For Pogacar this was already the 23rd stage victory in the Tour of France.
Success was of particular importance to Pogačar, as he admitted in an interview with the winner. “This is an incredible victory and one of my most beautiful. That’s for sure,” said the dominant figure in cycling.
Pogacar celebrates his 23rd Tour stage win
The German team Red Bull-Bora-hansgrohe also achieved a good result. Remco Evenepoel finished fourth. Florian Lipowitz took sixth place. Both were part of an eight-member group including Paul Seixas. In the overall standings, Pogačar is now 2:42 minutes ahead of Vingegaard. Lipovitz is seventh (+4:00 minutes). Like Evenepoel, the German remains within striking distance of third place.
Train loses a lot of time after falling – and gets out
It was clear from the start that Thorstein Train would not be able to defend the yellow jersey. The Norwegian lost contact with the leading group about 50 kilometers before the finish. In addition, the fall on the descent from Tourmalet cost a lot of time. Before entering the stage, Train was 7:53 minutes ahead of Pogacar. After two days in yellow, he finally reached the finish line, almost 30 minutes behind.
That evening, his team Uno-X Mobility announced that Train had to withdraw from the tour. As a result of the accident, he suffered a concussion and several broken ribs. The 30-year-old footballer will no longer be at the start of the seventh match.
At the 6th stage, 186 kilometers long from Pau to Gavarny-Gedr, two legendary mountains of the Tour awaited the professionals. We first climbed the Col d’Aspin, then followed the Tourmalet, the first major mountain of the tour. Before the finish line there was a hill 18.7 kilometers long with an average gradient of 3.7 percent. In total we had to overcome a height of 4100 meters.
The twelve-kilometer climb to Aspen Pass was the first test of the day. Ben O’Connor was the first to overcome the first category mountain, followed by a minute behind the favorites of the tour. The Australian in front was in his element. He has already won the mountain stage of the Tour twice after a long solo run and even the king stage in 2025. However, this time Pogačar’s UAE team had something against them; 4.8 kilometers before reaching the mountains, O’Connor’s escape was already over.
Paul Seixas with Florian Lipowitz and Isaac del Toro
Martinez with a tiger jump to ten mountain points.
The battle for the ten mountain points on Aspin was exciting. Two Frenchmen went on the offensive. And Lenny Martinez narrowly earned the maximum point, ahead of Valentin Paret-Paintre, who still received eight points, with a small tiger leap.
The sixth stage also became the actual starting signal for the fight for the mountain jersey. Before this there were only mountain points in homeopathic doses; In the second stage of the Pyrenees, the climbing specialists were able to score a maximum of 38 points.
Elimination race I’m Tourmalet
Then the tough qualifying race began at the Tourmalet. There were five assistants at the bottom of the climb next to Pogacar. He must “wear out” them all one by one. The group of favorites became smaller and smaller. Just ten kilometers before the mountain classification, Train had to drop Yellow Mayo. In the top third of the climb, the favored group consisted of just 15 riders.
The UAE team’s decisive attack came 4.9 kilometers before the mountain competition on Tourmalet. Del Toro accelerated in front and Pogacar on the rear wheel, and a gap quickly formed behind him. Soon after this, the Mexican had to pay tribute to the speed and retire from the race; 42 kilometers before the finish, Pogačar was alone in front.
The first pursuer was Vingegaard, the Dane also began his solo journey to the finish. At first it seemed that Lipowitz was going to get closer to Wingegaard again, but he was unable to do so. The German then reached the top of the Tourmalet almost 90 seconds behind Pogacar along with Paul Seixas and del Toro. Evenepoel followed a few seconds later.
In front, Pogačar rode to victory, as if in an individual time trial. Vingegaard was losing more and more time, but did not let his pursuers near and was clearly the second strongest. Pogacar also scored 25 points in the mountains in the Pyrenees and thus also won the mountains jersey. And here the long-time rival Vingegaard is now second.
Flat stage in Bordeaux on Friday
After efforts in the Pyrenees on Friday, only 850 meters of altitude are on the tour menu. It starts in Hagetmau and after 175 kilometers the professional cyclists reach Bordeaux. Many sprinters have already won there, and this is also the most likely scenario for the 7th stage.