July 26, 2026
158 of the 184 riders that set out from Barcelona three weeks ago will arrive in Paris today with stories that they will tell for a lifetime. They have ridden through excessive heat and raced over mountain passes into the thin air just to descend once again at break neck speeds. Today is a chance to allow all of that to sink in and be proud of the accomplishment of just finishing such a race. But today is a race too, and after the photos and champagne, attacks will fly and teams will employ their tactics in order to take the win on the Champs-Élysées. What was planned as a 133 km stage leaving from Thoiry is now just 89 km due to wildfires in the South of France that required extra police personnel to manage. Therefore, the start will be on the finish line on the Champs-Élysées where the riders will do six of the traditional laps before adding the climb of Montmartre for three laps of a larger circuit. The top of the last ascent of Montmartre comes 13 km from the finish and should offer another special conclusion to the Tour de France as it did last year.
Race Summary
The riders were transported by team bus from Thoiry to Paris where the riders dressed and lined up for the start. It was agreed that the first two laps would be ridden easily for photos to be taken then the attacking would be allowed to begin. The peloton was lined out around the circuit and the first to get away was Baptiste Veistroffer of Lotto Intermarché who had a gap around the Place de la Concorde and came through the finish line with three short laps remaining with a 10 second advantage. Veistroffer managed to hold his lead around the circuit one more time but the climb up to the Arc de Triomphe inside two laps to go put an end to the Belgian's escape.
Through the finish line with one short lap to go before the Montmartre extension, Xabier Azparren of Pinarello Q36.5 and Thibault Guernalec of TotalEnergies went on the attack and built 30 seconds by the turn onto La Seine river front. As they passed the finish line with 47 km to go, all GC times were taken and finalized to avoid something going wrong on the Montmartre circuit that would jeopardize anyone's position. At the top of the Champs-Élysées, Azparren and Guernalec had over 40 seconds as they followed the course to the right and into the Parisian streets towards the Sacré-Cœur and Montmartre. Jayco AlUla powered on the front of the peloton through the tree covered boulevards as all of the stage contenders moved forward to be in good position.
Azparren led the leading duo onto the climb for the first time with 43 km to go through a tunnel of fans that were ten people deep on either side. People were hanging on lamp posts and clambering out windows to just get to a vantage point. In the bunch, Alpecin-Premier Tech went full up the climb but it was Mads Pedersen of Lidl-Trek that made the first attack which brought Azparren and Guernalec back into the fold. A selection was made over the top with Pedersen, Mathieu van der Poel of Alpecin-Premier Tech, Tadej Pogačar of UAE-XRG, Kasper Asgreen of EF-Education EasyPost, Jasper Stuyven of Soudal Quickstep, Maxim Van Gils of Redbull-Bora Hansgrohe, Michael Matthews of Jayco AlUla, and Vlad Van Mechelen of Bahrain Victorious. Before they turned back onto the Champs-Élysées, the group swelled and the full peloton was together around the Arc de Triomphe with 36 km to go.
A few kilometers of relative calm was brought to an end when the peloton ramped up the speed coming into the second passage of Montmartre. Redbull-Bora Hansgrohe lined it out and the fight to be at the front was no less intense than the last few kilometers of a bunch sprint. Tim Wellens of UAE-XRG led the bunch into the climb with Remco Evenepoel of Redbull-Bora Hansgrohe on his wheel followed by Pogačar, van der Poel, and Pedersen. Pogačar took off over 700 meters from the top and splits formed behind. They rattled over the cobbles through the raucous crowd in an environment similar to that of the Oude Kwaremont during De Ronde but somehow louder. Pogačar pressed on to the top and found that only van der Poel remained on his wheel. Evenepoel was chasing at 5 seconds with Pedersen just a few more meters behind.
Evenepoel made contact first with Pedersen joining 2 km later after a big chase. The peloton was being led by Decathlon CMA CGM at 15 seconds and they managed to haul the leading quartet back by the bottom of the Champs-Élysées before they made the turn along La Seine. UAE-XRG used their last remaining men to take control of the peloton until the turn towards Montmartre when Cofidis came up with three riders as did Lidl-Trek. The peloton was roughly half the size coming into the final ascent as it was the first time around but the fight for position was just as fierce.
Soudal Quickstep brought Jasper Stuyven to the front and the Belgian started the climb in second wheel behind Victor Campenaerts of Visma-Lease a Bike with Pedersen in third. Once on the climb, Fred Wright of Pinarello Q36.5 did real damage but when van der Poel reached the front, he blew passed and only Pogačar could match the effort. Pogačar pulled himself inside out to hold the wheel and was able to hang on over the top. Both van der Poel and Pogačar continued to pull at full power to stay away from a chase group that consisted of Stuyven, Campenaerts and Matteo Jorgenson of Visma-Lease a Bike, Ben Healy of EF-Education EasyPost, Jonas Abrahamsen of Uno-X Mobility, and Matej Mohorič Bahrain Victorious.
Once van der Poel and Pogačar reached the Arc de Triomphe with 5.5 km remaining, they had 10 seconds on the chase and another 7 or 8 to the peloton led once again by Decathlon CMA CGM. Back onto the river side with 3 km to go, the chasing group was caught by Decathlon CMA CGM but they were running out of riders for Olav Kooij. Other fast men in the group were van der Poel's teammate, Jasper Philipsen, Pedersen, Max Kanter of XDS-Astana, and Biniam Girmay of NSN Cycling. Under the tunnel and back to the Place de la Concorde, NSN Cycling added a man to the chase and had the two leaders at 7 seconds. Around the corner and onto the Champs-Élysées, the catch looked imminent but van der Poel gave it one last seated acceleration which Pogačar could not follow. The sprint opened up behind around 250 meters from the line by Pedersen and the meters were disappearing for van der Poel. Behind Pedersen was Mohorič and Philipsen. At 50 meters from the finish, Pedersen had just about caught van der Poel but Philipsen had jumped from behind the Dane and was making a run. The final moments of the race were about as dramatic as one could hope for. Pedersen lunged for the line as did Philipsen but they had only managed to draw level with van der Poel who threw his bike forward with the last remaining energy in his body. A still photo of the line showed that van der Poel just hung on to take an amazing victory that will live long in the memory. Philipsen took a brilliant second place for Alpecin-Premier Tech with Pedersen snagging third on the day.
Final Classifications:
Maillot Vert - Mads Pedersen of Lidl-Trek
Maillot à Pois - Richard Carapaz of EF-Education EasyPost
Maillot Blanc - Isaac del Toro of UAE-XRG
Maillot Jaune - Tadej Pogačar of UAE-XRG
Final GC Top 10:
1. Tadej Pogačar of UAE-XRG
2. Remco Evenepoel - Redbull Bora Hansgrohe
3. Isaac del Toro - UAE-XRG
4. Paul Seixas of Decathlon CMA CGM
5. Lenny Martinez of Bahrain Victorious
6. Mattias Skjelmose of Lidl-Trek
7. Juan Ayuso of Lidl-Trek
8. Richard Carapaz of EF-Education EasyPost
9. Tom Pidcock of Pinarello Q36.5
10. Jordan Jegat of TotalEnergies