'Captain America' Quinn Simmons was the race's most valuable domestique of the 2025 Tour de France, and this year he is already well in contention to gather that title once again. Selfless, the American rider has proved absolutely key to the team's success in Foix, as Mads Pedersen took the stage wi...

The 2026 Tour de France will take place from the 4th to the 26th of July. Throughout the21 stages, the peloton will be racing through the mountains, sprint stages, cobblestones, individual and team time trials, and even. We take a look at all stages, their official profiles, and preview the days -...

Arnaud De Lie's brutal Tour de France abandon is a timely reminder of just how brutal La Grand Boucle can be. After soldiering through the opening two stages, the Belgian and loyal teammate Baptiste Veistroffer were left with no other option than to make a tough call. De Lie and Veistroffer had spen...

A day of wild suspense awaits. Ok, its sprint stage so the suspense will come late in the day but it could be more unpredictable than many a mountain stage.Foix et raison: a move of 34 riders got clear amid shade temperatures in the high thirties Celsius, including Biniam Girmay who won the intermediate sprint ahead of Jasper Philipsen and Mads Pedersen. Girmay sat up, Philipsen would be dropped.Jan Tratnik took off after the sprint with Mathias Vacek joining him before Alex Kirsch bridged across. The trio had a minute but Vacek was sitting on.Quinn Simmons led up the Col de Montsgur, trying to sit at the Lagrangian point between a speed sufficient to deter attackers and the pace Mads Pedersen could climb. Movistars Pablo Castrillo attacked near the top and was joined by Marco Frigo and they were joined by eight more including three from Lidl-Trek.Castrillo made plenty of attacks but each one looked increasingly stale; his team mate Raul Garcia Pierna had lost his jump too. It was valiant but the Lidl-Trek trio were the strongest riders in the move: Vacek had been able to roll with Pogaar in the Tour de Suisse recently, Simmons an Aura Tour stage winner and Pedersen, well he hadnt won a race this season yet but is among the best going for a finish like this. Their strength was impressive but so was their cohesion, carefully covering moves and never being caught out. They had force to spare and overcome a hesitation or mistake but didnt need to deploy it. As much others may have wanted to believe they had a chance, reason said Lidl-Trek was always going to win in Foix.Kvin Vauquelin tried to bomb the final corner but Mads Pedersen launched his sprint with a late bid for the combativity prize such was his finishing kick. Back in May team DS Steven Jongh came out to check the course and once he reached the finish called Pedersen to say it was perfect for him. Your blogger reconned the roads and thought the same. Pedersen takes the green jersey but now come the pure-sprinter friendly stages.Torstein Tren is the new yellow jersey wearer, the Norwegian (trivia: with a Japanese grandmother) has 28 seconds on Sean Quinn, almost four minutes on Vacek and then nearly eight minutes on Tadej Pogaar. Hell get to spend Stage 5 in yellow. Stage 6 is the Pyrenean mountain stage with the Aspin-Tourmalet combo. Hes finished 9th overall in the Vuelta so ought to be ready for a long spell in yellow. His hold on yellow depends whether Pogaar or others make incendiary moves on the Tourmalet. This probably suits Pogaar too.The Route: 158km and 1,600m of vertical gain. If this is going to be branded a sprint stage its a mildly hilly one and can be exploited by breakaway riders but probably later on. The start has some big wide roads and an unmarked climb before Trie-sur-Base but all on rolling roads.The spice comes later in the stage with some rolling roads with some sharp climbs, one is marked but others are not. Nothing big it could be exploited by some riders but plenty of teams with house sprinters have an interest in containing things and the short distance suits teams wanting to keep a lid on things. The more subtle interest is which teams work all day and which other ones try to free ride off the back of them.The Finish: flat and often but not always wide boulevards in Pau and the same finish as 2024 when Jasper Philipsen won, including a sharp left turn by the flamme rouge.The Contenders: Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-PremierTech) and Tim Merlier (Soudal-Quickstep) are the two lead sprinters on paper. Philipsen has a slight advantage with this hilly course but the climbs today are mild but might sap Merlier by a small amount; but he will be fresh from not going in the breakaway and sitting out intermediate sprints.Two opposing stories with Biniam Girmay (NSN) as a multiple Tour stage winner trying to get a big win again after an excellent 2024 vintage and things look promising, twice now hes won intermediate sprints. Meanwhile Olav Kooij (Decathlon-CGM) is a debutant after his first Tour win and a big talent to deliver this.Itll be hard for someone else to win ahead of these four but no sprint is ever the same. Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) can win bunch sprints but would like an uphill run to the line, just placing is good for his green jersey quest. Milan Fretin (Cofidis) is on the up. Fernando Gaviria (Caja Rural) would be fun after all these years. Phil Bauhaus (Bahrain), Max Kanter (XDS-Astana) and Pascal Ackermann (Jayco) dont win very often. Sren Wrenskjold (Uno-X) hasnt won a World Tour sprint. Arvid de Kleijn (Tudor) is a flat sprint specialist and already struggling in the hills. Finally Pavel Bittner (Picnic-PostNL) has won Vuelta stages but it would be a miracle for his team if he wins.Philipsen, Girmay, MerlierKooijPedersenWeather: sunny and hot but not as infernal as the previous stage, 35C with a NNE breeze of 10km/h.TV: KM0 is at 2.15pm and the finish is forecast for 5.45pm CEST. If youre rationing your viewing then tune in late to catch the approach and bunch finish. Theres plenty of gentle scenery to enjoy all day.The post Tour de France Stage 5 Preview first appeared on The Inner Ring.

It was a day tipped for the breakaway, and one that was especially hard. Stage 4 of the Tour de France headed from Carcassonne to Foix over four categorised climbs and through extreme heat that saw the UCI implement emergency measures.The 2019 world champion Mads Pedersen sprinted to win the stage, and he was closely followed by Uno Xs Torstein Tren, who was treated for cancer in 2022 and now leads the general classification.It feels unreal and you dont really understand whats going on, Tren said after taking the yellow jersey today.When I went into the breakaway, I was not believing until I came to the last climb. And [then] I understood that the legs are pretty good and the gap is pretty big, Tren said.That gap means Tren now leads the general classification by 7 minutes and 53 seconds from Tadej Pogaar and Jonas Vingegaard who are tied on the same time.Although he is not an overall favourite for the Tour de France, Trens palmars suggests he could hang onto yellow through the coming days. The 30-year-old climber led the 2025 Vuelta a Espaa for four stages and finished ninth overall.Trens cancer diagnosis followed an abnormal doping control test that revealed indicators of the disease. Anti-doping authorities contacted the Norwegian after the tumour marker Human Chorionic Gonadotropin was found in his sample. Doctors found a 15mm tumour in a testicle and surgery meant Tren didnt need to undergo chemotherapy.Trens performance on stage 4 is also poignant for Uno-X Mobility. Tren started his career with Uno-X Mobility in 2016 before moving to Bahrain-Victorious in 2022.He then returned to Uno-X Mobility in 2023, the first year the team was asked to participate at the Tour de France.Remarking on Trens performance on stage 4 and yellow jersey, Uno-X Mobilitys sports director, Christian Andersen, said: Its the biggest day weve had so far. Its outstanding.Todays stage also saw the UCI soften its rules around feed zones to ensure riders stay hydrated as temperatures hit 40C.

Mads Pedersen ended a frustrating spring campaign in the best possible fashion by claiming victory on Stage 4 of the 2026 Tour de France. The Lidl-Trek leader completed a perfectly executed team performance in Foix after receiving outstanding support from Mathias Vacek and Quinn Simmons. It was also...

At the Tour de France, the racing does not always end at the finish line. Sprint deviations, sticky bottles, feeding breaches, littering fines, time penalties, yellow cards and relegations can all become part of the daily story, especially in a race where every stage result and jersey position is wa...