June 13, 2026
The second of three mountain top finishes comes today with the stage to the Grand Colombier. Starting in La Bridoire on the banks of Le Thiers River, the riders will head North to find two category two climbs and a fourth category climb in the first 30 km of racing. Another 3 km blip to Perves leads to around 25 km of downhill and flat roads running parallel with the mighty Rhône River. 64 km from the finish, the riders will arrive at the base of the Lacets du Grand Colombier for a 7 km ascent that averages over 8%. The bunch will descend back down to the Rhône for another 20 km of valley riding before the finale really kicks off. Once in the village of Injoux, the route turns back on itself like a fish hook to start the penultimate climb of the Col du Richemond which is nearly 8 km at 6%. A 13 km descent leads to the bottom of the final climb to the finish atop the Grand Colombier. The climb is not super long at 8.5 km but the average is 10% and the majority of the climb is exposed to the sun. If the weather is warm, the riders will bake on the steep gradients. There is a stellar view across the Rhône Valley almost the entire way up the climb that will make for beautiful helicopter shots. For the GC guys, they let one get away yesterday but there would be few who would put money a break surviving today.
Race Summary
It was a dream day with a bright sun shining down on the patchwork of forest and cultivated land of the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. It was an extremely busy start and so much action had happened before we ever got to the see the riders. Over the top of the second fourth category climb of Côte de Saint-Maurice-de-Rotherens, the race was neutralized for the descent due to gravel on the road. The race got rolling again but was shaken up once again 7 km later when Paul Seixas of Decathlon CMA CGM had a fall 38 km into the stage near the town of Yenne. He took his time getting back on and rolling again but had lost over 4 minutes in the process. A few members of his team waited and worked to get him back in contact but by the time the cameras stated rolling with 62 km remaining, Seixas was still 2 minutes 30 seconds behind the rest of the peloton. Seixas was halfway up the Lacets de Grand Colombier with only Aurélien Paret-Peintre for help just as a group of ten were jumping away from the UAE-XRG led peloton. In the move that went clear was New Zealand Champion George Bennett of NSN Cycling, American Champion Quinn Simmons of Lidl-Trek, Carlos Rodríguez and Laurens De Plus of Netcompany-Ineos, Valentin Paret-Peintre of Soudal Quickstep, Jordan Jegat of TotalEnergies, Clément Berthet and Clément Braz Afonso of Groupama-FDJ United, Pello Bilbao of Bahrain Victorious, and Sergio Samitier of Cofidis.
3 km from the top, the riders reached the twisting lacets that the climb is famous for. De Plus was drilling the pace for Rodríguez and the group was quickly whittled down to Paret-Peintre, Simmons, Berthet, and Bennett. At the top, their gap was just 30 seconds to the peloton with the Seixas group still chasing but closing at 1 minute 20 seconds behind the bunch and in the convoy. Decathlon CMA CGM dropped Nicolas Prodhomme back for an extra man on the descent and the valley road ahead.
When the road flattened and the bunch started the trip towards Injoux and the Col du Richemond, Visma-Lease a Bike had added a man to the front of the peloton to keep Seixas in chase mode for as long as possible. With 44 km to go, the race commissaire called for a barrage which pulled the cars out of the gap, making it that much harder for the Seixas group. Also, Simmons had dropped out of the front group and immediately started pulling in the peloton, another knock against Seixas. Even with all of the adversity, Seixas made contact with the peloton at 36 km remaining after a 60 km chase and went straight to the front to show he was there.
The break arrived at the base of the Col du Richemond with a 50 second gap over the peloton as UAE-XRG and Lidl-Trek were taking turns pulling on the front. 1 km from the top, Rodríguez was dropped from the break after having been towed along by De Plus for 30 km. The stage didn't look like it was going to the break however because Lidl-Trek and UAE-XRG were hauling back time at just 25 seconds by the top. Simmons buried himself on the pedaling descent to the base of the Grand Colombier which brought the break back with 11.5 km remaining. He continued dragging the race to the bottom of the Grand Colombier and pulled off to allow his teammates to set the pace on the lower slopes.
A small gap opened up to both race leader Luke Tuckwell and Seixas after about 500 meters of the climb but they didn't capitulate and were able to stay within touching distance to the front. Visma-Lease a Bike were piling on the pressure but with just less than 7 km to go, Juan Ayuso of Lidl-Trek made his move and went clear. It more of a lifting of the pace which only Ben Tulett of Visma-Lease a Bike was willing to match. A select chase group formed with Tulett's teammate Matteo Jorgenson, Tobias Johannessen of Uno-X Mobility, Isaac del Toro of UAE-XRG, and Cian Uijtdebroeks of Movistar. Tulett dropped back to help pace Jorgenson, leaving Ayuso alone at the front of the race.
With 5 km to go, Ayuso reached gradients in excess of 15% and was weaving left to right to keep some forward momentum. He had 20 seconds on the Jorgenson group but just 10 seconds further back, Seixas was being masterfully paced by Léo Bisiaux and was still in contention. Tuckwell was at the back of the Seixas group which also contained Mattias Skjelmose of Lidl-Trek, Cristián Rodríguez of XDS-Astana, and Jan Castellon of Caja Rural-Seguros RGA. 800 meters later, del Toro began to ride for himself which first put Uijtdebroeks into trouble and a few moments later, Jorgenson and Johannessen were gone as well.
The climb temporarily flattened for about 1,500 meters which brought them to 2 km to go when the road reared back up. Ayuso still had 15 seconds on del Toro, around 30 seconds to Jorgenson, Johannessen, and Uijtdebroeks, just over 40 seconds to Seixas and Skjelmose, and 1 minute to Tuckwell. Del Toro caught Ayuso 1,700 meters from the top and he hit the Spaniard with a seated acceleration and immediately had a gap. The Mexican Champion gritted his teeth for the last kilometer as the road went steeply straight up the mountain side. He rounded the bend in the last 25 meters, patted his chest, and gave a bow as he crossed the line victoriously. Ayuso defended well to finish second at 24 seconds. 14 seconds later, Johannessen came in for third then Jorgenson and Uijtdebroeks 3 seconds later for fourth and fifth on the stage.
The GC got a major shake up as was expected at the start of the day. Tuckwell did enough on the Grand Colombier to hold on to the race lead by 42 seconds over Jorgenson with del Toro jumping to third at 49 seconds. In fourth is Ayuso at 1 minute 6 seconds, Johannessen at 1 minute 33 seconds, and Seixas at 1 minute 54 seconds with one big day in the high mountains remaining.