May 1, 2026
Today's stage is a series of confusing loops around the town of Orbe between lakes Neuchâtel and Léman (Geneva). On paper, the day is not as hard as yesterday with 500 meters less elevation over about the same distance but the timing and difficulty of the climbing is what makes today slightly more complicated. The first 112 km of the stage are not particularly hard but the riders will have to navigate fairly rolling roads for much of the first few hours. Through the finish line in Orbe with 65 km to go, the race should heat up. There is bonus sprint in Bavois right at the foot of a category three climb to Oulens-sous-Échallens which is 4 km long but only a hair over 3%. Another sprint in Moiry 12 km later will bring the peloton to the base of the hardest climb of the day. The Col du Mollendruz is 9 km at 6% and crests at 33 km from the finish. There is hardly a bump in the road for the rest of the stage with the long descent and an 11 km flat run to the finish. Like Stage 1 in Martigny, the top might be too far for anyone to go solo, especially since the Mollendruz is only 6%. We could see another cagey GC sprint to determine the stage victor.
Race Summary
People were out in force at the start in Orbe because it was a Friday and the weather was gorgeous. Another blue bird day was presented with temperatures pushing 24C (75F) and some riders had their sleeves rolled up to even out the tan lines. Groupama-FDJ United were highly motivated to make the break and when the move went, they had three riders represented including Lorenzo Germani, Joshua Kench, and Rémy Rochas. Also in the group was Sam Oomen of Lidl-Trek, Georg Steinhauser of EF-Education EasyPost, Damiano Caruso of Bahrain Victorious, and Steff Cras of Soudal Quickstep. With 84 km to go, the group was descending down to Pompaples with a 2 minute 10 second lead to the UAE-XRG led peloton.
As the break entered Orbe with 67 km to go, they had a 3/4 turn on a roundabout to negotiate. Rochas tried to accelerate a bit too early on the exit and clipped his pedal. He hit the deck as did three others. Rochas took the longest to get back up but everyone was generally alright and the group reconnected with most of their original gap retained. There was no contest for the sprint in Bavoir and the break looked like their sole purpose was to last as far into the stage as they could manage.
The climb up to Oulens-sous-Échallens was so shallow that it didn't bother the break much and they kept their lead steady at 2 minutes 20 seconds. With 48 km to go on the approach to the sprint in Moiry and the base of the Mollendruz, UAE-XRG were joined at the front of the peloton by Tudor Pro Cycling, Movistar, and Bahrain Victorious who were all there purely for position. The break passed through the sprint in Moiry and started the Mollendruz with a 2 minute advantage.
UAE-XRG continued to pull the peloton along and they increased the pace on the lower slopes of the climb. 40 seconds was cut from the lead in just 2 km and the break were forced to accelerate. Caruso did the damage and went clear with 6 km to climb with Cras and Steinhauser chasing. Behind, the complexion of the bunch changed after Redbull-Bora Hansgrohe took on the pace. They pushed on hard with Dani Martinez then Primož Roglič which shed all but 40 riders, at 4 km from the top. When Caruso hit the line at the top with 32 km to go, he had 25 seconds on Steinhauser and Cras with the peloton at 1 minute.
Redbull-Bora Hansgrohe didn't seem as committed on the descent as they did going up the Mollendruz which gave the opportunity for some dropped riders to return. Laurens De Plus and Andrew August of Ineos did an amazing ride to get Dorian Godon back into the peloton with 18 km to go to give their man a chance at another victory. Meanwhile at the front, Caruso was rejoined by Steinhauser and Cras on a flatter section of the decent with 17 km to go but their lead over the peloton was down to 25 seconds.
Ineos went to the front along with Redbull-Bora Hansgrohe and Lidl-Trek to pull the trio back. It took longer than expected but Caruso, Steinhauser, and Cras were caught with just 2.5 km to go. Through the streets of Orbe, there was a bit of playing around as Tadej Pogačar was trying to let the wheel go of Felix Großschartner but Godon was wise to the tactic and was there to keep everyone together. Pablo Castrillo of Movistar sent a flyer with 1,500 meters to go but was reeled in by Carlos Rodríguez of Ineos. Rodríguez continued to drive on the front until 400 meters to go which was too early for the sprinters to launch. There was a bit of looking around until 250 meters when the sprint opened up. Godon launched from the center of the road. Finn Fisher-Black of Redbull-Bora Hansgrohe came out of the slip stream and got alongside Godon at 150 meters. Godon's pure speed and sprint endurance won him the day however as he outlasted Fisher-Black and hit the line for his second win of the week. Fisher-Black was a half a wheel back in second with the tiny but powerful frame of Valentin Paret-Peintre of Soudal Quickstep following Fisher-Black across the line for third place.