June 9, 2026
Today's TTT is not only crucial for the GC this week, it is also the last race opportunity to drill the teams in competition before the all-important TTT at the Tour de France. The course runs on a clockwise loop to the East away from Perreux, then back into the city along the Rhodon River for a 28 km test against the clock. There are three main points of interest on course. The first two are the intermediate time checks with both coming atop gradual climbs of 4 km at around 3-4%. The second check is at 15.5 km into the stage with the next 12 km all false flat downhill following the Rhodon downstream. Coming into the finish, there is an 800 meter drag at over 6% with sections of 9% so the GC riders will need to keep something in reserve to blast their way up the rise and through the finish as quickly as possible. As with the TTT is Paris-Nice this year, times for the riders are taken when they themselves cross the line but the stage win is awarded on the time of the first rider across the line, as opposed to the fourth which was the traditional format.
Race Summary
Just like yesterday, the race was held in what can only be described as France profonde. With the exception of those living in the town of Perreux, the remaining houses and small villages of the region seemed to be separated by kilometers with only meadows, pasture, and small groves of forest in between. The roads were grippy and never flat, making the area a beautiful but difficult place to race a bike. It's wonderful that an international sport like cycling can take place in such locations.
Of the first few teams to finish, Jayco AlUla set the fastest time by nearly 2 minutes over NSN Cycling as Michael Matthews crossed the line with a time of 33 minutes 47 seconds to set an early benchmark.
The cameras did not focus on the Spanish squad of Movistar but their rouleurs put in a strong performance. Cian Uijtdebroeks was launched up the final ramp and hit the line just over 2 seconds quicker than Jayco AlUla. Movistar weren't in the hot seat for long however because Lidl-Trek had used their resources well and brought both Mattias Skjelmose and Juan Ayuso to the line together to set the fastest time by 20 seconds with a speed of 51 km/hr even. Out on course, Netcompany-Ineos were scorching, coming into the second time check 20 seconds quicker than Lidl-Trek. With 8 km remaining for Netcompany-Ineos, Oscar Onley dropped his chain and the team decided to wait to much consternation from Kévin Vauquelin. Onley got the chain back on relatively quickly but there is no time to spare in a TTT. Nevertheless, Onley and Vauquelin sprinted up the final rise to set the fastest time by 20 seconds but the error would prove costly.
Visma-Lease a Bike had been hitting the time checks between 5-10 seconds down their entire run but they managed to pull off negative splits in the final third of the course. Matteo Jorgenson was their designated man to go for the line and the American reached the finish 10 seconds faster than Netcompany-Ineos to put Visma-Lease a Bike in the hot seat with just a few teams still out on course.
The last team to come home was EF-Education EasyPost. They didn't have the strongest team on paper but they flew around the course and set the third fastest time, just 29 second slower than Visma-Lease a Bike who won the day with an average speed of 51.841 km/hr.
EF-Education EasyPost saved the race lead for Alex Baudin who now sits 12 seconds ahead of the Netcompany-Ineos duo of Kévin Vauquelin and Oscar Onley. There are a number of GC contenders still close including Matteo Jorgenson at 15 seconds, Juan Ayuso and Mattias Skjelmose at 47 seconds, Paul Seixas and Luke Plapp at 1 minute, Cian Uijtdebroeks at 1 minute 7 seconds, with the last of the realistic contenders, Isaac del Toro, at 1 minute 16 seconds.