The spike in viewers is arguably not a surprise, since British viewers now have no option to watch live Tour de France coverage beyond getting a VPN. TNT also says the free Tour de France highlights show on Channel 5 is bringing in half a million viewers a night

Tadej Pogacar narrowly avoided crashing during Stage 11 of the 2026 Tour de France after riding over a loose bottle at high speed on the road to Nevers. The yellow jersey struck the bottle with his front wheel but kept his handlebars straight and remained upright. He eventually finished safely insid...

Stage 11 of the 2026 Tour de France was officially the fastest in the races history, with the peloton averaging a staggering 50.9kph for 3 hours, 10 minutes and 6 seconds.The flat 161.3km stage from Vichy to Nevers was won by Uno-X Mobilitys Sren Wrenskjold his first Tour de France stage win, after finishing second on stage 7.There were plenty of attackers for the breakaway in the opening kilometres of the stage. Tudors Julian Alaphilippe was among the attackers alongside Lotto-Intermarchs Baptiste Veistroffer, who has developed a reputation for getting into a breakaway, and Alpecin-Premier Techs Mathieu van der Poel.The break settled with Alaphilippe, Uno-X Mobilitys Anthon Charmig, Movistars Nelson Oliveira and TotalEnergies Mathis Le Berre.Alaphilippe was dropped on the Cte de Billy-Chevannes, leaving three riders in the breakaway.After holding the gap at just over 1 minute, the break only had 20 seconds over the peloton with 10km to go. The peloton eventually caught the attackers with 6km to go.The closing kilometres of the stage were cagey, before NSN Sports picked up the pace with 2km to go.After the stage, Wrenskjold said he thought he was too far back, which was the same feeling he had before winning the 2025 Omloop Het Nieuwsblad. But the road opened up and the Norwegian found himself at the front of the race, with Olav Kooij and Jasper Philipsen finishing second and third.It means everything. Its my biggest win so far, Wrenskjold said.Breaking a 27-year-old recordThe previous record for the fastest stage stood for 27 years. Mario Cipollini averaged 50.3kph to win stage 4 of the 1999 Tour de France, where he covered 194.5km in 3 hours, 51 minutes and 45 seconds.Stage 9 of the 2025 Tour de France came close to Cipollinis average speed. The sprint stage from Chinon to Chteauroux saw Tim Merlier average 50kph over the 174km route to take the win. The stage was animated by a two-up breakaway from teammates Mathieu van der Poel and Jonas Rickaert before they were caught with 700m to go.Like last years stage 9, the high speed of todays stage was aided by the relatively flat course and a slight tailwind.Tailwinds often contribute to high average speeds. Stage 7 of the 2020 Giro dItalia is the fastest ever of the Italian Grand Tour, where crosswinds contributed to an average speed of 51.234kph.Crosswinds also animated stage 17 of the 2019 Vuelta a Espaa, which is the fastest recorded race over 200km. Philippe Gilbert won the stage with an average speed of 50.63kph over 216km.Faster than everAway from flat stages and crosswinds, the Tour de France is still faster than ever. Last year was the fastest-ever edition with an average speed of 42.8491kph.Aerodynamics have contributed to the increase in speed. Cycling has become an arms race. The bikes, the wheels, the clothing If youre not dialled in, youll be left behind, Team Jayco-AlUlas Luke Durbridge told BikeRadar in 2024.Advancements in nutrition have also contributed to an increase in speed, with riders now able to consume close to 120g per hour to fuel their muscles through a race. 3,302km in 76 hours: how fast is the Tour de France?

Jasper Philipsen was relegated then reinstated after finishing third in the bunch sprint on stage 11 of the Tour de France on Wednesday, on an odd early evening in Nevers.The Alpecin-Premier Tech rider was punished by the race jury after he appeared to move into a Picnic PostNL rider in the final 500m of the stage, however, after discussion with the team, the Belgian was reinstated. The stage was won by Sren Wrenskjold (Uno-X Mobility), with Olav Kooij (Decathlon CMA CGM) in second.In the space of an hour, the team went from being reasonably pleased with third place, to being confused and disappointed, back to close to their original state.The news filtered through just under half an hour after the stage that Philipsen had been relegated, which completely changed the mood at the team bus, before that decision was reversed half an hour later further. "We don't know which phase it is," Philip Roodhooft, the team's manager, said immediately after the original relegation. "I think consistency is the key to every rule. If it's not applied for everybody in the same way, then that creates trouble, but I don't think anybody has a special eye on Jasper, I think it takes us to far to think that. "On the other hand, from his position, now being disqualified and getting a yellow card, I think he feels like somebody has an eye on him, I think that's normal."Twenty minutes later, Christophe Roodhooft, the team's head sports director, told Wielerflits: "It is better the way it is. I think it is only fair. It was a good meeting. We reviewed everything together, and those people had a lot more footage than what we had seen. And ultimately, they consulted again and the decision was reversed."More to follow...

Jasper Philipsen has been reinstated to third place on Stage 11 of the 2026 Tour de France after the race jury reversed its decision to relegate the Alpecin-Premier Tech sprinter. The Alpecin-Premier Tech rider initially completed the podium behind Soren Waerenskjold and Olav Kooij, only for the rac...

The fastest stage in the history of the Tour de France gave way to the strangest and most disorganised sprint of this years race, but was it also dangerous?Won by Uno-X Mobilitys Sren Wrenskjold in Nevers, after the Norwegian launched his sprint with 350m to go and held off a late challenge from stage five winner Olav Kooij and Jasper Philipsen (who was reinstated as the third-placed finisher after initially being relegated).Though the final few kilometres were devoid of sharp turns, roundabouts and pinch points, they were largely held on narrow roads, restricting the chance for teams to organise their leadout trains. Thats partly why the door opened up to Wrenskjold to come from deep and go early.Picnic PostNL, riding for young Czech sprinter Pavel Bittner, joined Soudal Quick-Step at the front of the peloton with just over 20km to go, and for a brief moment the prospect of echelons arose.His veteran teammate John Degenkolb denied that he and Picnic were really pushing for echelons, but instead suggested that the peloton was nervous because of the finishing route.It was just the positioning because everyone knew the final was very, very sketchy, the German told Cycling Weekly. It was not a good final to have a sprint stage of the Tour de France.The road was quite narrow from 6km to go. It was crazy stress and chaotic just to start the sprint at 2km to go. I dont think it was the best place to finish a stage like that.Asked if the course was unsafe, Degenkolb added: I think for sure its a stage finish that helps to increase the stress. There might be other options to have different and better sprints.Its quite disappointing not to have a result because of a finish like that. Bittner finished 23rd.Tim Merlier, who has won two stages in the race so far, didnt directly criticise the course, but he was held up to the point that he could only finish 15th, despite being the pre-stage favourite.It was hectic, the Belgian said. They blocked the road and with 2km to go we started to try to lead it out but I didnt find a place to launch a sprint. I need to brake too many times.But Wrenskjold refuted the suggestion that the sprint was unsafe. For me I didnt feel like it was so dangerous, the 26-year-old said. But I was up at the front so it probably felt a little different for me.I feel like it was quite similar to stage eight which was also a bit technical in the final. I didnt think it was that dangerous. Ive raced stages before where its been more hectic and more crazy.The reason Wrenskjold went early, he said, had nothing to do with the technical nature of the parcours, but more to do with feeling like he had nothing to lose after crashing the day before. If I didnt have the crash yesterday, I dont think I would have taken that gap, he said. I tried to follow my instinct, and took the gap on the right hand side, even though it was a bit far out. Even though I crashed yesterday, I probably wouldnt have done the same as I did today. Im guessing a bit but Im quite sure of it.Stage 12, finishing in Chalon-sur-Sane, should also be an opportunity for the sprinters. That includes one 90 degree right-hand turn and two roundabouts in the finale before a long finishing straight.

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...