The first stage of the Tour de France 2026 held entirely in France, crowned two Nordic champions after exhilarating racing in the southern departments of Aude and Ariège. Mads Pedersen joined the breakaway and survived the day’s ascents. With essential support of Lidl-Trek teammates also at the front, the Danish powerhouse eventually took his third stage win in the race, after winning in Saint-Étienne (2022) and Limoges (2023). In second place, Quinn Simmons completes the team’s triumph on the day. Pedersen takes the green jersey as leader of the points classification, a first for him in the Tour. Also at the front, Torstein Træen takes the Maillot Jaune from Tadej Pogacar (UAE Emirates-XRG). He is the third Norwegian to lead the Tour de France overall standings. The first was Thor Hushovd, now the general manager of Uno-X Mobility, who had never led GC in a Grand Tour.
The Tour entered France on day 3 and the riders are set for the first stage of this edition to be raced entirely in the home nation. The 181.9 km route to Foix links two medieval cities and offers spectacular terrain for battle, with 2,700 metres of elevation gain, a couple of cat. 2 ascents, and a flat finish. A 182-man peloton set off under the sun from Carcassonne, a city associated with successful breakaways.
An impressive 34-man breakaway
All sorts of attackers are inspired. Quinn Simmons (Lidl-Trek) sets off as soon as the flag is dropped. But he’s rapidly reeled in and a fierce battle for the break ensues.
Alex Kirsch (Cofidis) is the first rider to get away, from kilometre 2. Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) rapidly reacts and brings a dozen riders with him. Eventually, a group of 34 attackers becomes consolidated after 16 kilometres of battle.
There are three former winners of the points standings at the front: Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Premier Tech), Biniam Girmay (NSN), and Michael Matthews (Jayco AlUla). Along with them and Pedersen, Kévin Vauquelin (Netcompany Ineos) and Ion Izagirre (Cofidis) are the other two Tour stage winners in the breakaway. Torstein Træen (Uno-X Mobility) is the best placed rider in the breakaway on GC (24th, +5’06’’).
A hard-fought intermediate sprint
Alex Molenaar (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA) is also up there to try and reclaim the polka-dot jersey he lost to Alex Baudin (EF Education-EasyPost) on day 3. The Dutch baroudeur takes 3 KOM points across the ascents of Bedos (cat. 4, summit at km 48.2) and Paradis (cat. 3, km 64.9). Meanwhile, UAE Emirates-XRG control the gap at around three minutes and a half.
The peloton’s pace eases up en route to the intermediate sprint (km 93.4), where Girmay takes 25 points ahead of Philipsen and Pedersen. Onto the climb up to Col de Coudons, Jan Tratnik (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) accelerates at the front of the race. Mathias Vacek (Lidl-Trek) follows him but doesn’t collaborate. They are joined by Alex Kirsch (Cofidis) after the summit. At that point, the gap to the bunch is already up to over 7 minutes, and Træen leads the virtual standings.
A dominant Lidl-Trek
With Michael Valgren and Georg Steinhauser to support Sean Quinn, EF Education-EasyPost drive the chase. The leaders are caught on the final ascent of the day, Col de Montségur (cat. 2, km 146.7). The best climbers at the front, such as Movistar’s duo made of Pablo Castrillo and Raul Garcia Pierna, give it their all to distance Mads Pedersen. But the Dane survives the climb with two teammates: Vacek and Simmons.
Despite a flurry of attacks, mostly from Castrillo and Garcia Pierna, Pedersen’s luxury domestiques control the stage all the way to the sprint. Kévin Vauquelin tries to surprise them with 350 metres but nobody can react when Pedersen unleashes his power. Simmons completes a dominant 1-2 for Lidl-Trek.
The peloton finishes 13 minutes behind. For the third year in a row, Tadej Pogacar loses the Maillot Jaune on the first day he wears it. This time, it favours Træen, Uno-X Mobility and Norway.
