Tadej Pogacar wins at Alpe d'Huez, securing his fifth Tour de France victory

Olympic champion Remco Evenepoel won a thrilling three-way race on the finish line of Stage 15 of the 2026 Tour de France, beating Tadej Pogačar and Isaac Del Toro.

Details of the winning stage

Evenepoel managed to overtake the reigning sprint champion at the end of a challenging 11-kilometer climb. Isaac Del Toro took third place, finishing six seconds behind the winner. After the 183.9-kilometer stage from Champagnol to Plateau de Soleilson, Evenepoel shared his emotions, noting that he was literally trembling with excitement.

He recounted that the day had been very tough, and although he felt unwell at the start, he gradually improved his form. Evenepoel emphasized the difficulty of the race, as he had to compete with the best rider, Tadej Pogačar, and watch him battle Isaac Del Toro for the victory.

Consequences of the crash and changes in the standings

After Jonas Vingegaard, who started second in the afternoon, crashed 20 km from the finish line, sustaining an injury similar to a collarbone fracture, Tadej Pogačar increased his overall lead by five minutes. Evenepoel commented on the incident, calling it 'very bad news' for Vingegaard, his team, and the race itself, adding that after such an event, one must focus on maximizing performance.

The Belgian, who previously won the Vuelta a España title, moved up to second place in the general classification. Del Toro advanced from seventh to third place, trailing Evenepoel by almost a minute, and took the white jersey of best young rider from Paul Seix by a margin of 25 seconds. Fourth place was taken by the fifteen-year-old French prodigy, who finished nearly a minute behind the winner, with German Florian Lipovitz riding alongside him.

Other participants and conclusion of the day

For Spaniard Juan Ayuso, it was an unsuccessful day: he lost the white jersey to Seix on Saturday, and also lost another minute to the Frenchman and nearly two minutes to Del Toro, dropping to sixth place in the general classification. The main dramatic moment of the day was the crash of two-time former winner Vingegaard. The 29-year-old Dane fell heavily in a corner while his team, Visma-Lease a Bike, set an intense pace to chase the breakaway. Vingegaard looked visibly distressed after the fall, which also caused four other riders, including Del Toro, to crash.

The Dane was helped into medical transport with a stabilized arm. Vingegaard, Giro d'Italia champion, has never previously withdrawn from a Grand Tour. In his five previous participations in the Tour de France, he won the race twice and finished second twice. Monday is declared a rest day before the start of the final week of the tour.

Slovenian rider Tadej Pogacar won the 14th stage of the Tour de France, described as 'unforgettable,' thereby extending his lead over Jonas Vingegaard by four minutes and thirty seconds.

Victory on a Mountain Stage

In the 113th edition of the Tour de France, amid a large crowd in the Vosges region, Pogacar won a challenging mountain stage. He received the jersey for the best climber. His team, UAE Team Emirates - XRG, celebrated the success on the podium.

Pogacar, a 27-year-old athlete from Slovenia, thanked the fans, noting that the spectacle was truly unforgettable. He emphasized the mutual respect among all participants in the race and highly praised the quality of the competition presented.

Dominance and Stage Results

The four-time champion demonstrated his superiority once again by launching a powerful attack closer to the finish. This victory marks his twenty-fifth stage win in the Tour de France since his debut in 2020.

Interesting events occurred among the participants in the battle for secondary places. Frenchman Paul Seychas earned four bonus seconds, overtaking Pogacar by 38 seconds, which allowed him to climb to fourth place in the general classification and denied Spaniard Juan Ayuso the white jersey of best young rider by only three seconds.

Leader Positions and Attack

Olympic champion Remco Evenepoel maintained third place in the general classification, finishing just four seconds behind Vingegaard, despite being the first of seven contenders on the final climb, Col du Haag, which is 11.2 km long.

The gap between Evenepoel and Seychas on the podium is only 15 seconds. Nevertheless, the gap between Vingegaard in second place and Del Toro in seventh has now narrowed to 1 minute and 20 seconds, while Florian Lipovic from the Red Bull-Bora Hansgrohe team, Evenepoel's teammate, took sixth place.

Race Progression and Decisive Attack

More than thirty riders started an attack on the first climb of the stage, Grand Ballon, which is 21.5 km long. However, six riders separated from the group at the summit, and four of them continued forward to Col du Haag.

The remaining part of the group was absorbed by the peloton, led by the UAE Emirates-XRG team on the Ballon d'Alsace climb. Riders battled in variable weather, alternating between warm sun and heavy rain, which was a relief after the hot first ten days of the race.

Six riders managed to create a maximum gap of three minutes, but the UAE team successfully controlled this pace. The first rider to drop out of the breakaway was Irishman Ben Healy, followed by Norwegian Anders Johansen; his brother Tobias remained. At the foot of the final climb, the leaders had a lead of about 1 minute and 20 seconds over the peloton of approximately 35 riders.

Johansen and Richard Karapaz let two companions go within a kilometer of the start of the climb, but Vingegaard's acceleration allowed them to be caught 2.5 km from the summit. After this, Pogacar executed his inevitable winning attempt 1.5 km from the summit, leaving only a fast 6-kilometer stretch to the finish.