June 19, 2026
After two sprint stages, we finally get to see who will be contending for the overall classification with today's Queen stage. The riders have another circuit race, this time around Durbuy in the heart of the Belgian Ardennes. The race is four laps of a roughly 44 km circuit for a total of 173 km and 2,600 meters of elevation gain which will suit the puncheurs down to the ground. There are six official climbs on each lap, the Champ des Hêtres, Petite Sommes, Rue du Bout, Cote de Hermanne, Cote de Coquaimont, and the Mur de Durbuy. With the exception of the Mur de Durbuy, all the climbs on course are between 1-2 km long with none being more than 5%. The finish line sits atop the Mur de Durbuy, an 800 meter wall that rises from L'Ourthe River at an average gradient of 8.5% with steeper pitches near the top. There is really no flat all day and with the Golden Kilometer coming late with 24 km to go at the top of the Rue du Bout, we are set for an action packed day of racing that will go a long way into deciding the winner at the end of the week.
Race Summary
Europe's heat wave has finally reached Belgium and the riders would have to manage temperatures into the low 30's C (~90F). An early break went away when the flag dropped including Michiel Hillen of Baloise Verzekeringen-Het Poetsbureau Lions, Gianni Marchand of Tarteletto-Isorex, Stijn Appel of BEAT-Saxo, Roy Hoogendoorn of Metec-Solarwatt-Mantel, and Victor Hannes of Aarco. With 77 km to go on an uncategorized climb between the Petite Sommes and Rue du Bout, only Appel and Marchand were still at the front of the race with gap of just 20 seconds. UAE-XRG had been pulling the peloton quite hard in the first 100 km but they changed tactic and decided to send Rui Oliveira on the attack with 74 km to go. Oliveira was quick to get across to Appel and Marchand and they had grown the advantage to 50 seconds as the peloton completely shut down on the Rue du Bout.
The bunch sprang to life in response to an attack from Michiel Lambrecht of Flanders Baloise. It seemed like the group was going to split in half but NSN Cycling and Decathlon CMA CGM got control and started to set a pace to keep further attacks at bay. Over the next 25 km, the bunch was start/stop and not much had changed. The gap was still 45 seconds but a rain shower was passing over head making the road wet for the run in to the streets of Durbuy.
Fortunately the rain had not reached Durbuy by the time the race arrived and both break and peloton were able to navigate the cobbles of the town center without trouble. Unibet Rose Rockets led the bunch onto the Mur de Durbuy with Appel, Marchand, and Oliveira at 17 seconds. By the top, the break was caught and there were a lot of riders struggling at the back of the peloton just to stay in contact.
Lotto Intermarché took over and ripped it through to the base of the Champ des Hêtres. XDS Astana and NSN Cycling took their turns pulling hard and the race exploded on the Petite Sommes. Jenno Berckmoes of Lotto Intermarché was the main instigator and he drew around ten riders clear over the top. Someone left the wheel go and Berckmoes found himself off the front with Quinten Hermans of Pinarello Q36.5. The chase group slowed and swelled to around 40 riders with 35 km to go.
The gap got to around 20 seconds before a chase was organized with Decathlon CMA CGM and Alpecin-Premier Tech leading the charge. With only two riders out front, it seemed like the peloton was content to let them dangle just ahead and burn energy. The main benefit of being in the lead however was the opportunity to take the bonus seconds through the Golden Kilometer unchallenged. Berckmoes took the first, Hermans took the second and Berckmoes snagged the third sprint but there was movement behind. Héctor Álvarez of Lidl-Trek had attacked to take 2 of the last 3 bonus seconds left and the young Spaniard was closing the gap with Aimé De Gendt of Pinarello Q36.5 sitting on.
De Gendt eventually started to ride and he was able to cross the gap with Álvarez with 20 km to go. The four leaders had 10 seconds and the chase looked more focused now that the front group had reinforcements. NSN Cycling put two riders to work but they were struggling to make any progress on the gap until the Cote de Hermanne when they burned every rider they had. Riley Sheehan was forced to use his engine to jump across to the four leaders near the top of the Hermanne. Sheehan was able to get across but he dragged the rest of the peloton with him.
Over the top with 9 km to go, counter attacks went and a group of eight broke away but the cohesion was not perfect and the race was reset once more. The calm lasted only a few moments because a new group went clear with some of the pre-race favorites. In the group was Jasper Philipsen of Alpecin-Premier Tech, Rick Pluimers of Tudor Pro Cycling, Biniam Girmay of NSN Cycling, Dylan van Baarle of Soudal Quickstep, Mike Teunissen of XDS Astana, Sergio Meris of Unibet Rose Rockets, Hermans, and Berckmoes. With punchy sprinters like Philipsen and Girmay in the group, the pulls were not fully committed and someone left a wheel go to Pluimers who squirreled off the front.
Pluimers took his opportunity and pinned it. Approaching Durbuy with 2 km to go, Pluimers had 14 seconds on Teunissen who sped away from the stagnant chase and 20 seconds back to the peloton. Pluimers crossed L'Ourthe River, hit the cobbles of the town center, and started the last uphill kilometer to the finish. Unibet Rose Rockets had three men and were able to close down Teunissen and had Pluimers in sight at 400 meters to go. The momentum from the peloton swallowed the Dutchman and the rider leading the way was Toon Aerts of Lotto Intermarché. Aerts had a decent gap but the Mur de Durbuy kept rising steeper which swung the pendulum back to those who were patient in their effort. Lewis Askey of NSN Cycling came charging up the last ramps and looked to have the win in the bag but Alex Aranburu of Cofidis saved just enough energy to punch over the top and cross the line first, completely asphyxiated by the sprint. Aranburu won on the Mur de Durbuy in 2024 and his experience paid off with another victory for his palmares. Carlos Canal of Movistar was third and Aerts, who looked so good early on the climb, faded all the way back to 18th with a 9 second gap.
The stage was always expected to sort out the GC but the gaps remain beautifully poised for the next two days. Aranburu leads Berckmoes by 2 seconds and Hermans by 3 seconds. There are 16 riders within 10 seconds which is exactly what the organizers would have hoped for.