Friday, July 17th, 13th stage: Dole > Belfort – The longest stage of the Tour de France 2026 – 205.8 km from Dole to Belfort – favoured the attackers’ plans, or at least the ambitions of two of them. Members of the 57-man breakaway that became established after more than 100 kilometres of battle at a dazzling speed, Mauro Schmid (Jayco AlUla) and Tom Pidcock (Pinarello Q36.5) took center stage up and down the iconic Ballon d’Alsace. The British climber conquered the ascent and opened a massive gap to the peloton. But the Swiss powerhouse attacked on the descent and narrowly edged Harold Tejada (XDS Astana) on the line, withPidcock rounding out the day’s top 3. As the peloton finished 7’32’’ behind, Tadej Pogacar (UAE Emirates XRG) retained the leader’s jersey ahead of a gruelling week-end. Pidcock moved up to fourth place in the overall standings, just 9 seconds behind third-placed Remco Evenepoel (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe).
A 57-rider breakaway emerges after a brutal battle
The stage’s profile naturally encouraged aggressive racing, particularly with much of the route passing through Romain Grégoire’s home roads. The finish in Belfort also lay fewer than 20 kilometres from Étupes, where Adam Yates, Warren Barguil, Guillaume Martin-Guyonnet and Clément Braz Afonso all developed into professional cyclists.
UAE Team Emirates XRG attempted to control the formation of the early break, but it took 33 kilometres before a group of 37 riders finally escaped. Brandon McNulty and Tim Wellens represented the Emirati squad, while Tom Pidcock was joined by three Q36.5 Pro Cycling teammates — Quinten Hermans, Xandro Meurisse and Fred Wright. The move featured a host of climber-puncheurs targeting victory in Belfort, including Grégoire, Ben Healy (EF Education-EasyPost) and Kévin Vauquelin (Ineos Grenadiers).
Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Premier Tech) was also in the break, prompting Lidl-Trek to respond. The race intensified again, and 20 more riders, including Green Jersey holder Mads Pedersen, attacked at kilometre 55. They eventually bridged across at kilometre 114, creating a formidable 57-rider lead group. Pedersen took second and 20 points in the intermediate sprint and eventually drifted back to caboose. The relentless pace underscored the intensity of the battle for the breakaway: the riders covered 55.3 kilometres in the opening hour and another 51.5 kilometres in the second.
An exhilarating battle over the Ballon d’Alsace
With UAE Team Emirates XRG allowing the gap to grow, Pidcock quickly became a genuine threat in the general classification. Starting the stage 10th overall at 11 minutes, 49 seconds behind the race lead, the Briton climbed to second on the virtual standings as the break’s advantage peaked at 8 minutes, 25 seconds on the slopes of the Ballon d’Alsace, the day’s principal Category 1 ascent, which summited at kilometre 175.9.
Pidcock was among the most active riders on the historic climb, the first major mountain ever crossed in Tour de France history in 1905. He reached the summit first, leading a select group of eight riders: McNulty, Vauquelin, Braz Afonso, Maxim Van Gils (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe), Harold Tejada (XDS Astana), Luke Plapp, Mauro Schmid (Jayco AlUla) and Jordan Jegat (TotalEnergies). Wellens rejoined the group on the descent.
Schmid and Tejada launched the decisive move 16 kilometres from the finish and worked seamlessly together to build a 20-second advantage over the chasers. They began to hesitate inside the final two kilometres, each waiting for the other to make the first move. Schmid held his nerve in the sprint to claim the stage victory ahead of Tejada, while Pidcock crossed the line two seconds later in third place.
The peloton finished 7 minutes, 32 seconds behind the stage winner. Pidcock’s strong ride lifted him to fourth overall, just nine seconds behind third-placed Remco Evenepoel (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe).
Pidcock commented, “There are a lot of positives to take from today, yet I’m also here to win a stage and it didn’t happen today. It was close, but no cigar. It’s just good to be racing. As a team, we did an amazing job. I am very pleased with the boys. They worked really hard, and I tried to repay them with a win. It didn’t work out, but I did gain a lot of time in the GC. There’s positives and there’s some disappointment.
I’m going to lose a lot of time in the time trial, that’s for sure. I’m going to keep doing what I’m doing. We definitely earned some respect today from everyone pulling hard behind us, so we will keep doing the same. The upcoming stages are GC days, and we will race them as hard as we can.”
The finish!
Stage 12 Results:
| 1 | M. SCHMID | TEAM JAYCO ALULA | 04h 06′ 58” | – | B : 10” | – |
| 2 | H. TEJADA | XDS ASTANA TEAM | 04h 06′ 58” | – | B : 6” | – |
| 3 | T. PIDCOCK | PINARELLO-Q36.5 PRO CYCLING TEAM | 04h 07′ 00” | + 00h 00′ 02” | B : 4” | – |
| 4 | M. VAN GILS | RED BULL – BORA – HANSGROHE | 04h 07′ 00” | + 00h 00′ 02” | – | – |
| 5 | B. MCNULTY | UAE TEAM EMIRATES XRG | 04h 07′ 00” | + 00h 00′ 02” | – | – |
| 6 | K. VAUQUELIN | NETCOMPANY INEOS CYCLING TEAM | 04h 07′ 00” | + 00h 00′ 02” | – | – |
| 7 | J. JEGAT | TOTALENERGIES | 04h 07′ 00” | + 00h 00′ 02” | – | – |
| 8 | C. BRAZ AFONSO | GROUPAMA-FDJ UNITED | 04h 07′ 00” | + 00h 00′ 02” | – | – |
| 9 | T. WELLENS | UAE TEAM EMIRATES XRG | 04h 07′ 00” | + 00h 00′ 02” | – | – |
| 10 | L. PLAPP | TEAM JAYCO ALULA | 04h 07′ 09” | + 00h 00′ 11” | – | – |
General Classification after Stage 12:
| 1 | T. POGACAR | UAE TEAM EMIRATES XRG | 47h 18′ 31” | – | B : 36” | – |
| 2 | J. VINGEGAARD | TEAM VISMA | LEASE A BIKE | 47h 22′ 07” | + 00h 03′ 36” | B : 12” | – |
| 3 | R. EVENEPOEL | RED BULL – BORA – HANSGROHE | 47h 22′ 37” | + 00h 04′ 06” | B : 10” | – |
| 4 | T. PIDCOCK | PINARELLO-Q36.5 PRO CYCLING TEAM | 47h 22′ 46” | + 00h 04′ 15” | B : 8” | – |
| 5 | J. AYUSO | LIDL-TREK | 47h 22′ 53” | + 00h 04′ 22” | – | – |
| 6 | P. SEIXAS | DECATHLON CMA CGM TEAM | 47h 23′ 06” | + 00h 04′ 35” | B : 4” | – |
| 7 | F. LIPOWITZ | RED BULL – BORA – HANSGROHE | 47h 23′ 15” | + 00h 04′ 44” | – | – |
| 8 | I. DEL TORO | UAE TEAM EMIRATES XRG | 47h 23′ 39” | + 00h 05′ 08” | B : 14” | – |
| 9 | M. SKJELMOSE | LIDL-TREK | 47h 24′ 16” | + 00h 05′ 45” | – | – |
| 10 | L. MARTINEZ | BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS | 47h 25′ 05” | + 00h 06′ 34” | – | – |
