Sunday, July 19th, 15th stage: Champagnole > Plateau de Solaison Brison – Stage 15 radically flipped the script laid out in the first GC battles of the Tour de France 2026. Tadej Pogacar (UAE Emirates XRG) remains head and shoulders above his rivals: the 4-time winner of the race set the pace himself on the final climb of the day, to the unprecedented finish at Plateau de Solaison, trying not only to distance his rivals but also to favour the ambitions of his younger teammate Isaac del Toro. But after their 1-2s in Barcelona (stage 2) and at Le Markstein (stage 14), the UAE Emirates-XRG duo had to settle for second and third behind Remco Evenepoel(Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe), the only rider to follow Pogacar’s pace. The Belgian produced a powerful sprint at the summit to take his third Tour stage win after two ITT successes in 2024 and 2025. This is Belgium’s 500thstage win in the Tour. Evenepoel is now second in the overall standings also because of the withdrawal of Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike), who crashed out of the race for the first time in six appearances. The Dane had reached the overall podium in his five previous Tours, notably winning it in 2022 and 2023.
A mountain showdown before the second rest day
After Tadej Pogačar’s victory at Le Markstein, the 169 remaining riders faced the first Hors Catégorie summit finish of the 2026 Tour de France at Plateau de Solaison following 183.9 demanding kilometres. The stage started in Champagnole, a jewel of the Jura on the banks of the Ain River, a town associated with success for Sylvère Maes, the first Tour stage winner there in 1937, the Johannessen twins, who finished first and second on a Tour de l’Avenir stage starting in Champagnole, and Justine Ghekiere, winner of a Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift stage that also started there.
Another huge battle for the breakaway
Alpecin-Premier Tech controlled the opening phase until Jasper Philipsen claimed maximum points at the intermediate sprint in Saint-Laurent-en-Grandvaux (km 17.3). Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) crossed second, retaining the green jersey and preserving a 31-point advantage over his Belgian rival.
The battle for the breakaway then erupted, lasting nearly half of the 183.9-kilometre stage. EF Education-EasyPost proved especially determined to launch Richard Carapaz. A front group finally formed at km 87 and eventually grew to 24 riders, including five members of the overall top 20: Tom Pidcock (Pinarello Q36.5), attacking for a third consecutive day; Egan Bernal (Netcompany Ineos); Ilan Van Wilder (Soudal Quick-Step); Yannis Voisard (Tudor); and Adam Yates (UAE Emirates XRG).
Vingegaard crashes out
The breakaway never found much cohesion. Brent Van Moer (Pinarello Q36.5) emptied the tank to stretch the advantage to 2 minutes, 55 seconds before the Category 1 ascent of Le Salève-Col de la Croisette (summit at km 136). Tom Pidcock (Pinarello Q36.5) and Quinn Simmons (Lidl-Trek) accelerated on the punishing slopes (4.7 km at 11.2%), with only five riders able to follow: Adam Yates (UAE Emirates XRG), Mauro Schmid (Jayco AlUla), Einer Rubio (Movistar), Ewen Costiou (Groupama-FDJ United) and Yannis Voisard.
Behind them, Visma-Lease a Bike led the chase until disaster struck with 24 kilometres remaining. Jonas Vingegaard crashed heavily, and race doctors placed his right arm in a sling before he was taken away in an ambulance, bringing his sixth Tour de France to an early end. In his previous five appearances, the Dane had never finished lower than second, winning the Tour in 2022 and 2023 and finishing runner-up in 2021, 2024 and 2025.
Evenepoel spoils the UAE show
Schmid attacked before the final climb, the Tour’s first-ever ascent of Plateau de Solaison, and started the final 11.3 kilometres at an average gradient of 9% with a 25-second advantage. Simmons dropped his remaining companions and caught the Swiss rider, winner of Stage 13 in Belfort, with 9 kilometres remaining.
In the peloton, Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe set a fierce tempo until Tadej Pogačar took over at the front 8 kilometres from the summit. Within moments, only two riders remained on his wheel: teammate Isaac del Toro and rival Remco Evenepoel (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe). The trio caught Adam Yates, who bridged to Simmons before being dropped with 4.5 kilometres remaining.
Pogačar resumed setting the pace, while Del Toro launched a pair of accelerations inside the final kilometre. Evenepoel answered each move before producing the strongest sprint to claim victory ahead of Pogačar and Del Toro. Seixas finished fourth on the stage but surrendered the white jersey to Del Toro, who climbed to third overall, 25 seconds ahead of the young Frenchman.
Evenepoel commented: “It’s amazing. I’m literally trembling with emotions. It’s been a hell of a day, a pretty hard stage. I was feeling bad in the beginning but I got better and better during the day. You have to understand that I’m racing with the best rider ever, and he’s been doing a hell of a climb to win this stage with Isaac [del Toro]. For me it’s a big step forward that I can follow this pace, because it was a crazy hard pace. I get so many criticisms, ‘he can’t survive this type of climb’, so it feels amazing for myself and everybody around me… It means a lot.
I was not really expecting any attack from Isaac anymore but he did a pretty hard attack in the final. For me it was the perfect way to make my sprint. I tried to keep my momentum as hard as possible to the finish line, to win this beautiful stage. It’s amazing to get this victory and go to the rest day with this feeling. When there is an opportunity you need to grab it with both hands. It’s my first proper mountain stage against this GC group. It shows my step forward and now I have to keep it for the last week because it’s not over yet, but it’s a really nice win.
It’s really bad news for Jonas [Vingegaard], his team and the race that he’s out. It’s something you never wish for anybody.
Now we have a good rest day and then a beautiful day on Tuesday, where I will try to go for another stage win. It’s amazing that I found my best legs in this Tour. I hope to recover well and go into the last week.”
Extended Highlights:
Stage 15 Results:
| 1 | R. EVENEPOEL | RED BULL – BORA – HANSGROHE | 04h 23′ 09” | – | B : 10” | – |
| 2 | T. POGACAR | UAE TEAM EMIRATES XRG | 04h 23′ 09” | – | B : 6” | – |
| 3 | I. DEL TORO | UAE TEAM EMIRATES XRG | 04h 23′ 15” | + 00h 00′ 06” | B : 4” | – |
| 4 | P. SEIXAS | DECATHLON CMA CGM TEAM | 04h 24′ 07” | + 00h 00′ 58” | – | – |
| 5 | F. LIPOWITZ | RED BULL – BORA – HANSGROHE | 04h 24′ 07” | + 00h 00′ 58” | – | – |
| 6 | L. MARTINEZ | BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS | 04h 25′ 06” | + 00h 01′ 57” | – | – |
| 7 | M. SKJELMOSE | LIDL-TREK | 04h 25′ 06” | + 00h 01′ 57” | – | – |
| 8 | J. AYUSO | LIDL-TREK | 04h 25′ 09” | + 00h 02′ 00” | – | – |
| 9 | A. YATES | UAE TEAM EMIRATES XRG | 04h 25′ 09” | + 00h 02′ 00” | – | – |
| 10 | Q. SIMMONS | LIDL-TREK | 04h 25′ 25” | + 00h 02′ 16” | – | – |
General Classification after Stage 15:
| 1 | T. POGACAR | UAE TEAM EMIRATES XRG | 55h 41′ 31” | – | B : 52” | – |
| 2 | R. EVENEPOEL | RED BULL – BORA – HANSGROHE | 55h 46′ 31” | + 00h 05′ 00” | B : 20” | – |
| 3 | I. DEL TORO | UAE TEAM EMIRATES XRG | 55h 47′ 29” | + 00h 05′ 58” | B : 24” | – |
| 4 | P. SEIXAS | DECATHLON CMA CGM TEAM | 55h 47′ 54” | + 00h 06′ 23” | B : 8” | – |
| 5 | F. LIPOWITZ | RED BULL – BORA – HANSGROHE | 55h 48′ 19” | + 00h 06′ 48” | – | – |
| 6 | J. AYUSO | LIDL-TREK | 55h 48′ 59” | + 00h 07′ 28” | – | – |
| 7 | M. SKJELMOSE | LIDL-TREK | 55h 51′ 09” | + 00h 09′ 38” | – | – |
| 8 | L. MARTINEZ | BAHRAIN VICTORIOUS | 55h 51′ 59” | + 00h 10′ 28” | – | – |
| 9 | T. PIDCOCK | PINARELLO-Q36.5 PRO CYCLING TEAM | 55h 52′ 50” | + 00h 11′ 19” | B : 8” | P : 20” |
| 10 | J. JEGAT | TOTALENERGIES | 56h 00′ 57” | + 00h 19′ 26” | – | – |
