The winners of the various classifications of the 2026 Tour de France stood out for their aggressive racing style. Tadej Pogačar proved he was worthy of wearing the Yellow Jersey with another five stage leaders. Isaac del Toro blended his own grit with the panache of his Slovenian leader in his duel with the wunderkind Paul Seixas, who became the youngest-ever Tour top 5 finisher at the tender age of 19. Mads Pedersen and Richard Carapaz launched a flurry of attacks to get their hands on the green and polka-dot jerseys… Join us on this recap of the battles for the distinctive jerseys of the 113th edition.
Yellow Jersey: "Pogi" lays down the law
For the third year in a row, Tadej Pogacar relinquished the Yellow Jersey the day after first donning the coveted garment, but his superiority was never in doubt. History will remember that two Scandinavian riders also led the 2026 Tour de France, with the Dane Jonas Vingegaard and the Norwegian Torstein Træen each spending two days in yellow. Pogacar hit the front in stage 3 and reclaimed the top spot after stage 6, rocketing up the slopes of the Tourmalet on his way to victory in Gavarnie-Gèdre. It was the first major test for the overall contenders, and the Slovene passed with flying colours. He kept the momentum going with further victories at Le Lioran (stage 10) and Le Markstein (stage 14) and on the Alpe d'Huez (stage 19), ultimately winning a record-equalling fifth Tour by 6′26″ over his latest runner-up, Remco Evenepoel.
Two years after his first Tour podium finish, Red Bull–Bora–Hansgrohe's Belgian leader moved up a spot thanks to Jonas Vingegaard's DNF in the stage to the Plateau de Solaison (stage 15). On that day, the "AeroBullet" stole the show by bagging the win in the first hors catégorie summit finish of this edition. Two days later, he came back for seconds in the Lake Geneva time trial, reasserting his supremacy in the race against the clock, the format in which this well-rounded rider shines brightest. The Belgian also led the favourites home in the second finish on the Alpe d'Huez (stage 20), where Pogacar helped his young wingman, Isaac del Toro, to defend his place on the bottom step of the podium (+9′42″) from Paul Seixas (+11′56″).
The French rookie stayed in contention for the podium for a long time, proving that he was not there to make up the numbers. He made an impact on the race and became the youngest-ever Tour top 5 finisher, beating the 1904 champion, Henri Cornet, by just a few weeks. These two are the only riders who have finished so high up in the general classification before their third decade of life. Seixas may have missed out on the podium this year, but it is just a matter of time.
Green jersey: Mads attacks
After seizing the green jersey in Carcassonne, Mads Pedersen stuck to a simple plan: to attack, attack and attack all the way to Montmartre. The Dane snatched the green jersey on the fourth day of racing, when he brought his first breakaway to a victorious close. He then shone on all fronts until he dealt the decisive blow in the queen stage of the Tour, after cresting the Col de la Croix de Fer and fighting on for three weeks.
Unable to match the raw speed of his rivals in the bunch sprints, the Dane came under pressure from Jasper Philipsen (just seven points behind after winning stage 17 to Voiron) and Tim Merlier (who bagged a hat-trick of victories before withdrawing from stage 15), but his adaptability and endurance made him the first Dane to win the points classification of the Tour, replicating his previous successes in La Vuelta and the Giro. His 559-point total was good enough to beat two of his predecessors: Jasper Philipsen (475 points), who had prevailed in 2023, and Biniam Girmay (367 points), who had emerged victorious from the 2024 edition.
Polka-dot jersey: Carapaz saves the best for last
Hitting the right note from the first Pyrenean stage (third in Les Angles), Richard Carapaz gave an Alpine recital as the magnum opus of his Tour de France. He was a paragon of consistency in the Alps, with victory in Orcières Merlette, third place on the Alpe d'Huez and yet another win in the second finish on the Dutch Mountain. The Ecuadorian ascended the throne as king of the mountains in much the same way as in 2024, when he had also stripped Tadej Pogacar of the polka-dot jersey after stage 19.
After Alex Molenaar, Alex Baudin and others scrapped over the first few mountain points, the Slovene landed a massive haul on the Tourmalet, where he became the first reigning world champion to go over the Pyrenean giant alone in first place. Pogacar added another jersey to his collection and followed it up with victory on the Alpe d'Huez, a legendary summit where glory had eluded him up so far. While Carapaz was dropped in sight of the line, the Ecuadorian pulled on the polka-dot jersey on the podium that evening before going on one last victorious rampage 24 hours later.
White jersey: Del Toro tipped for greatness
The list of contenders for the best young rider's classification at the start in Barcelona heralded three weeks of no-holds-barred action and a preview of the battles of tomorrow. Juan Ayuso struck first, pulling on the white jersey at the end of the team time trial in his home city of Barcelona. Del Toro bumped him from the hot seat after stage 2, only to be toppled in turn by Mathias Vacek, whose presence in a breakaway allowed him to repeat his white jersey exploits from La Vuelta and the Giro.
The mountain men reclaimed the coveted garment after stage 6 to Gavarnie-Gèdre. Ayuso held the white jersey all the way to Le Markstein, where Paul Seixas went down in history as the youngest-ever wearer of a distinctive jersey of the Tour (19 years, 9 months and 24 days). Del Toro wrested it back on the Plateau de Solaison the very next day. Razor-thin margins set the stage for a vicious battle royale. In the end, Del Toro emerged victorious, thanks in no small part to Pogacar, who rode for him to secure the white jersey and third place overall for his talented wingman.
Combativity award: Richard the Lionheart
The flamboyant Ecuadorian Richard Carapaz, who had already claimed the prize in 2024, and the powerful Dane Mads Pedersen were so evenly matched that the jury of the combativity award ended up split down the middle. What tipped the scales for Carapaz was the fact that he had won more stage combativity awards throughout the three weeks of racing, with four (stages 10, 14, 18 and 19) to Pedersen's one (stage 17). No rider had won this award so many times in a single edition of the Tour de France since Giovanni Battaglin in 1979. Baptiste Veistroffer got three (stages 5, 7 and 12) thanks to his breakaways in flat stages.
Team classification: Lidl–Trek perfect total cycling
While Netcompany–Ineos and UAE Team Emirates XRG shone in Barcelona, the first stage held entirely on French soil (stage 4) smiled upon a team whose roster and methods have been crowned with success. On the road from Foix to Carcassonne, Lidl–Trek slipped three men into the first victorious breakaway of the Tour: Mathias Vacek, Quinn Simmons and Mads Pedersen, whose stage win helped to propel the German outfit to the summit of the team classification. It then fought on all fronts, launching a barrage of attacks spearheaded by the Dane in green. Simmons and Vacek joined forces with Gee-West, Verona and Skujiņš to support Pedersen rain or shine. Meanwhile, Ayuso and Skjelmose made their presence felt at the sharp end of the race. It was a collective effort that kept UAE Team Emirates XRG at bay until the latter started to run out of steam in the final week.
21 stages: Belgium and Slovenia hit it big time
To the surprise of no-one who has been watching the race in recent years, Tadej Pogacar took the lion's share of stage wins, five in total: stage 3 to Les Angles, stage 6 to Gavarnie-Gèdre, stage 10 to Le Lioran, stage 14 to Le Markstein and stage 19 to the Alpe d'Huez. The Slovene, the most prolific stage hunter of this edition, continues to rise up the historical ranking. His current tally of 26 has catapulted him past André Darrigade (22) and André Leducq (25) and brought him closer to Bernard Hinault (28), the last milestone before the all-time greats, Eddy Merckx (34) and Mark Cavendish (35). In fact, he is already making history as the only rider who has bagged multiple stages in each of his first seven starts.
Combined with the six Belgian victories in this edition, that brings us to eleven, more than half the 21 stage wins up for grabs between Barcelona and Paris. Tim Merlier (with three sprint victories in Bordeaux, Bergerac and Chalon-sur-Saône) opened his account, while his countrymen Remco Evenepoel (triumphant on the Plateau de Solaison and the Thonon-les-Bains time trial) and Jasper Philipsen (who took an impressive win from the breakaway in Voiron after coming up short in the bunch sprints) had already claimed the same number of wins last season. Yet 2026 will be a year to remember, not least for Evenepoel. The hero from Schepdaal nabbed the 500th Belgian stage victory in the history of the Tour before striking again on the Belgian National Day, 21 July.
Two other riders scored a brace in this edition, both with thrilling attacks: Mathieu van der Poel, who triumphed in Ussel (stage 9) and Paris (stage 21); and Richard Carapaz, who tasted glory in Orcières Merlette (stage 18) and on the Alpe d'Huez (stage 20). The remaining victories went to Visma–Lease a Bike (stage 1 team time trial), Isaac del Toro (stage 2), Mads Pedersen (stage 4), Olav Kooij (stage 5), Soren Wæerenskjold (stage 11), Mauro Schmid (stage 13) and Jasper Philipsen (stage 17).
It is also worth noting the conspicuous absence of the French contingent from this list. The home crowd fired a blank for the third time in the history of the Tour, after 1926 and 1999. The top 10, however, is more comforting, with a new batch of talent fresh out of the oven in the shape of Paul Seixas (fourth), Lenny Martinez (fifth) and Jordan Jegat (tenth). Yet, for the first time in 302 Grand Tours (113 editions of the Tour, 109 of the Giro and 80 of La Vuelta), neither the French nor their Italian and Spanish counterparts managed to win a stage of the 2026 Tour.
Best Teammate: Simmons everywhere all at once
As an individual rider, Quinn Simmons stands out from the crowd for his incredible raw power. Once again, the American did the Stars and Stripes proud on every front, particularly on the road to Foix, where he finished second to none other than his leader Mads Pedersen, stage hunter extraordinaire. His brilliance and offensive flair have never stopped Simmons from racing as a team player, even when he slips into a breakaway. Lidl–Trek is delighted to have such a generous rider who gives every ounce of energy for the team, both as a vital cog in its green jersey-winning machine and as an invaluable aid to Juan Ayuso and Mattias Skjelmose in the high mountains. That makes him the Best Teammate of the Tour for the second year in a row.
