25 : POGACAR AGAIN AND AGAIN
Claiming a solo victory this Saturday at Le Markstein after dominating his rivals with an average speed of 23.9 km/h on the Col du Haag, Tadej Pogacar secured the 25th Tour de France stage win of his career. The Slovenian, who successfully defended the title he had won at the Vosges resort in 2023, has now equaled French André Leducq’s tally of victories in the Grande Boucle, becoming the fourth most prolific rider in the race's history. Pogacar now looks for Bernard Hinault (28 wins), but remains far from Eddy Merckx (34) and Mark Cavendish, the record holder with 35 victories.
9 : FORMIDABLE EFFICIENCY
By winning at Le Markstein, Tadej Pogacar secured his fourth stage victory of this year's race. The two-time world champion thus becomes the ninth rider in history to claim at least four stage wins across three or more editions. The Slovenian joins the ranks of Jacques Anquetil, Nicolas Frantz, Bernard Hinault, Marcel Kittel, René Le Grevès and André Leducq (who achieved this across three different Tours). Only Eddy Merckx (five Tours) and Mark Cavendish (six Tours) have bettered this record. Pogacar is also the first non-sprinter to win four stages within the first fourteen days of the Tour de France since Eddy Merckx in 1974.
11 : SHINING YELLOW
Having already won at Le Lioran this year while wearing the Yellow Jersey, Tadej Pogacar claimed the 11th stage victory of his career in the prestigious leader's jersey this Saturday at Le Markstein. The UAE Team Emirates-XRG rider surpasses Bernard Hinault (10 wins in yellow) but remains a long way behind "The Cannibal" Eddy Merckx (25).
2012 : UAE DOUBLES THE STAKES
Thanks to Tadej Pogacar, winner at Le Markstein, and runner-up Isaac Del Toro, UAE Team Emirates-XRG secured a second one-two finish in this Tour de France, following the same two riders' reverse-order finish on stage 2 in Barcelona. The Emirati squad becomes the first team since Sky to achieve such a feat. Back in 2012, the duo of Bradley Wiggins and Chris Froome dominated two individual time trials in that same order, in Besançon and Chartres.
1 : YOUNGEST WEARER EVER OF A DISTINCTIVE JERSEY
After finishing third at Le Markstein following an impressive ascent of the Col du Haag, clocking an average speed of 23.6 km/h, Paul Seixas became the first rider under the age of 20 to reach the podium on two stages since 1931. In doing so, the Decathlon CMA CGM rider joins the Italian Fabio Battesini, who won in Brest and finished third in Bordeaux that year. Thanks to his performance, the French also claimed the white jersey for the best young rider. More importantly, he is the youngest rider in Tour de France history to wear any of the race's distinctive jerseys, whether yellow, green, polka-dot or white. To find a younger rider who achieved a feat of this caliber in the Grande Boucle, we must must go back to 1931 and, once again, Fabio Battesini. He remains the only rider to have won a stage at a younger age (19 years, 4 months and 13 days) than Seixas is today.
1986 : A YOUTHFUL PODIUM
With an average age of 23 years and 161 days, Tadej Pogacar (1st), Isaac Del Toro (2nd) and Paul Seixas (3rd) formed the youngest Tour stage podium since 1986. That year, in Blagnac, Niki Ruttimann won ahead of Christophe Lavainne and Twan Poels, the three of them combining an average age of 23 years and 57 days. The record since the end of World War II is still held by the trio of Bernard Quennehen, Alfred Tonello, and Jean Le Guily, set during the 1953 stage in Nîmes, with an average age of 23 years and 3 days.
50 : A COLLECTIVE WIN ALL THE WAY TO PARIS ?
Thanks to Juan Ayuso (5th), Mattias Skjelmose (8th) and Carlos Verona (25th), Lidl-Trek is leading the Tour’s team classification for the 50th time in its history. The German squad, holding a 7-minute-26-second lead over UAE Team Emirates-XRG, took the top spot in the standings following stage 4 in Foix. This number offers grounds for optimism regarding the remainder of the Tour, given that in 2024 and 2025, Visma – Lease a Bike and UAE also took the lead in the team classification on the fourth day before ultimately winning the award at the race's conclusion. In the 21st century, only Team Sky has achieved a better record. In 2017, the British team dominated the standings from the first stage to the last.
5 : CARAPAZ KEEPS BELIEVING
After attacking again for 128 kilometres, maintaining an average speed of 38.3 km/h across the passes of the Vosges mountains, Richard Carapaz claimed the fifth combativity award of his Tour de France career this Saturday. The Ecuadorian first won this honor during stage 16 of the 2020 edition. Since then, the EF Education–EasyPost climber has received the award during stages 15 and 19 of the 2024 edition — at the end of which he was named "Super Combatif" — and again during stage 10 of this year's race. Among the riders competing in this Tour de France, he holds the record for the most appearances on the combativity podium, surpassing his teammate Ben Healy (4).
