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...

The Tour de France is often shaped as much by survival as by strength. Across three weeks of racing from the Grand Dpart in Barcelona on 4 July to the final stage in Paris on 26 July, crashes, illness, heat, fatigue and withdrawals can quickly reshape the peloton, from nervous sprint stages and exp...

Not even the Tour de France organisers had imagined a stage as fast as Wednesdays. Assuming perfect conditions, and a quicker than usual pace, the earliest they thought stage 11 would arrive in Nevers was 17:31 local time, which they noted in the races road book. Any fans that turned up then, however, would have been 15 minutes late; Uno-X Mobilitys Sren Wrenskjold was already on the podium, and the team buses were packing up to leave. In fairness, the organisers couldnt have known stage 11 would be record-breaking. Sprinting across the line in a time of three hours, 10 minutes and six seconds, Wrenskjold earned the honour of winning the fastest ever road stage in the Tour de Frances 123-year history. His average speed was 50.91kph over the 161.3km. The previous record had stood for 26 years, set by sprinter Mario Cipollini on stage four in 1999 an average speed of 50.36kph. I was a bit surprised that it was the fastest one because it didnt feel so hard, Wrenskjold said afterwards. It wasnt a really long stage, and you see the tendency in the peloton that they always try to keep [the breakaway] at around one minute. In all of cycling, it just goes faster and faster, but were quite used to it now.(Image credit: Getty Images)In an era of super-bikes, nutrition gains, and evermore aerodynamic equipment, record-breaking average speeds have become a common sight on the WorldTour; last year, Tim Merlier came within 0.3kph of bettering Cipollinis 1999 benchmark on stage nine to Chteauroux. The speed record at Paris-Roubaix has fallen four times in the last five years. So why was Wednesdays stage so fast? There wasnt a roaring tailwind if anything, weather forecasts showed a very light, almost unnoticeable headwind, around 7kph from the north; the stage was short, but it wasnt the shortest (stage fives sprint to Pau counted 3km fewer); the days profile, as flat as a carpenters workbench, definitely helped, although there was still 1,400m of elevation. The main reason, according to Bahrain Victoriouss Matej Mohori, was the nature of the days racing; the breakaway committed from the flag-drop. We all knew that, after a hard stage yesterday, there was always a chance that the sprinters teams would be a bit tired, Mohori told Cycling Weekly. In the start, there were many riders who were really focused to try and get in the break, because nowadays with the aerodynamics and the way the sport has progressed, you never know even a minutes gap can be enough.Once the attack happens on the flat, if its a completely flat road, we go above 65kph, so its pretty hard to close a 100m gap.On the road out of Vichy, Mohori tried to bridge across to the four escapees Julian Alaphillippe (Tudor Pro Cycling), Mathis Le Berre (TotalEnergies), Anthon Charmig (Uno-X Mobility) and Nelson Oliveira (Movistar) but couldnt match their blistering speed to join them. When Le Berre was told after the stage that he had helped pace a record-breaking day, he said: I dont doubt it. I had almost 56kph [on my GPS computer] almost the whole day. We were going really deep.Yellow jersey wearer Tadej Pogaar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG), though nestled in the peloton all day, felt the pull of the bunch. When we stopped for a pee-pee, to come back [into the peloton] it was crazy, he laughed. Then we were like, Today, it will be fast at the finish line. Its good to be part of the fastest stage in the Tour. Asked why he thought it was so fast, Pogaar concurred with Mohoris thoughts. Ok, it was not super long, but the reason why is because there is a lot of chance for the breakaway to go to the finish line, he said. The sprint teams controlled, but they needed to catch them, these strong riders. Today was a strong breakaway. Thats why the speed has to be high. Once we caught them, we slowed down immediately, and it was so funny to ride from 5km to 2km to go we rode the slowest of all day. It was then that Wrenskjold, capitalising on the lull of the bunch, launched his race-winning move. The clock read 17:16. An historic record had been set. Mohori thinks it wont be long until we see it broken again. Who knows what the limit is? the Bahrain Victorious rider asked. If you can push 350-370 watts into the wind, youre going well above 55kph. Unless theres a strong headwind, this is the new normal speed I think its going to get even faster in a few years time.

Team Visma | Lease a Bike guided Jonas Vingegaard safely through the fastest stage in Tour de France history before turning their attention back towards his 3:36 deficit to Tadej Pogacar. Stage 11 came only 24 hours after Pogacar dropped the Dane in the Massif Central, won in Le Lioran and added ano...