If there were any doubts left as to who the strong man of the Tour de France 2026 is, they were lifted as Tadej Pogacar (UAE Emirates XRG) rode to a fourth stage win at Le Markstein. En route to yet another triumph with the Maillot Jaune on his back, the Slovenian 4-time winner of the Tour passed the Grand Ballon, the highest summit in the Vosges. On day 15, the road rises even higher, all the way to Plateau de Solaison, the first HC finish of this edition, at 1,508 metres of altitude. Can the 11.3 km ascent shake the race with its brutal slopes (9% on average)?
As he celebrated his victory in the Vosges, Pogacar already spared a thought for the Alps and hinted that stage 15 could be open to many scenarios. Indeed, when the ascent first appeared in the Critérium du Dauphiné, in 2017, it turned the race upside down with Denmark’s Jakob Fuglsang seizing the stage win and the final overall lead. Five years later, it was his compatriot Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) who left his mark on the Plateau de Solaison just a few weeks before he took his first Tour de France. Since then, he’s suffered the dominance of Pogacar. But he’s always refused to bow down.
Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost) is not the kind to back down either. His recent raids en route to Le Lioran and Le Markstein both saw Pogacar eventually take the win, but the Ecuadorian climber assures these defeats have nurtured his confidence as he’s feeling stronger and stronger as the days pass.
The same applies to Paul Seixas (Decathlon CMA CGM), a brilliant debutant who’s not only making history simply by participating, but who now has two stage podiums and will discover the elation of racing with a distinctive jersey, the white, the same one Isaac del Toro took when he won stage 2 in Barcelona. A couple of weeks later, the Mexican star was second at Le Markstein, completing another 1-2 for UAE Emirates XRG. After the Pyrenees, Pogacar could be keen on gifting him another stage in the Alps.
