"Today will be a hard day," said Jonas Vingegaard before today's stage. "You have to be ready for a GC fight."
More than the soaring temperatures or the 4,100 metres of climbing on stage six, Vingegaard was talking about the challenge which had been looming on the horizon all week: the Tourmalet.
The Pyrenees' most iconic climb has featured on the Tour de France route more than any other pass, with today marking its 80th appearance. Its first was back in 1910, when the race was just seven years old and the Tourmalet was still a rough dirt track. When the first winner, Frenchman Octave Lapize, reached the top, he screamed at the organisers: "Vous êtes des assassins! Oui, des assassins!"
Over the last century, the Tourmalet has never failed to deliver drama. In 1913, race leader Eugene Christophe snapped his fork on the descent. But without the luxury of team cars or a spare bike, Christophe took matters into his own hands, running 10 kilometres on foot to the nearest forge and welding the fork himself. He lost four hours, received an additional time penalty for receiving help from a child on the bellows, but completed the race, ultimately finishing seventh in GC.
These rugged, high-altitude slopes and vertiginous switchbacks are steeped in cycling history. In 1969, Eddy Merckx launched a legendary 130-kilometre solo breakaway on the Tourmalet — ultimately winning him both the stage and his first Tour de France title. In 2010, Andy Schleck —barely visible through the fog— outsprinted Alberto Contador at the summit, following a now-legendary tussle between the two riders. And in 2019, Thibaut Pinot claimed one of his most feted victories, beating Geraint Thomas and Julian Alaphilippe, clad in yellow.
Like Alaphilippe, even members of today's peloton have their own chequered histories with this climb. In 2023, Tadej Pogačar and Vingegaard attacked together, shattering climbing records and dropping yellow jersey wearer Jai Hindley, with Pogačar claiming the win. At the Vuelta later that year, Vingegaard would reclaim the climb for himself, winning solo on his daughter's birthday in what he said this morning was one of the greatest moments of his career. Last year, following illness, Remco Evenepoel abandoned on the Tourmalet, stopping to give a young fan his bidon before stepping into the team car, head down.
The point is: the Tourmalet is the ultimate test. And when, at six kilometres from the summit, Pogačar picked up his race radio to tell his team: "I'm good, guys, I'm good", it was clear that today would be no exception. Climbing from the eastern side from Sainte-Marie-de-Campan, today's ascent covered 17.1 kilometres at an average gradient of 7.3%, with the stage finishing 40 kilometres away from the summit, at Gavarnie-Gèdre. Emmanuel Macron, fresh from the NATO summit in Ankara, was in attendance, and there would be an extra prize, the Souvenir Jacques Goddet, on the table for the first rider over the Tourmalet.
In fact, the World Champion had woken up early that day in anticipation, like a child before Christmas. "Today I woke up at seven and already my mind was going crazy — I was really, really excited for today and I knew all the guys were really hyped, so I knew it would be a good day," he told interviewers after the race. "We [decided] to just commit. We [said]: 'we have nothing to lose, if we explode, they explode.'"
True to their promise, UAE Team Emirates-XRG had been showing off their firepower all day. The further they got up the Tourmalet, the faster the pace became. One by one, riders began to drop off the back of the peloton. Matteo Jorgensen (Visma-Lease a Bike). Jai Hindley (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe). Tom Pidcock (Pinarello Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team). Richard Carapaz (EF Education EasyPost). Torstein Træen (Uno-X Mobility), wearing —and eventually losing— the yellow jersey.
When Pogačar broke free of the group, launched once again by Isaac del Toro, it felt like an inevitability. He was almost five kilometres from the top of the Tourmalet, and more than 40 from the finish line. Vingegaard was the first to follow, almost immediately gaining a gap on the riders behind him. No surprises there either. Pogačar's lead over Vingegaard contracted to just six seconds at one point, the rainbow jersey tantalising close, before stretching slowly out.
Time slowed down, the group splintered, and the Tourmalet laid it all bare. Around a minute behind Vingegaard was Florian Lipowitz, who had left co-leader Evenepoel behind and was eventually joined by Paul Seixas and del Toro, sitting on the back. Around 20 seconds behind them, a new group formed: Evenepoel, Sepp Kuss (Visma-Lease a Bike), Juan Ayuso (Lidl-Trek), Mattias Skjelmose (Lidl-Trek) and Lenny Martinez (Bahrain-Victorious). Vingegaard grimaced. Evenepoel unzipped his jersey and removed his sunglasses. Paul Seixas stared at his power meter, head down.
At the front, of course, was Pogačar. Solo again, as we have seen him so many times this year, and making it look easy. At the summit, yellow cap and Leclerc T-shirt-wearing fans slammed the boards, stood on the stone walls and cheered. Pogačar took a sip from his bidon, splashed water over his back and helmet, and started to descend.
In the next 40 kilometres, Pogačar would extend his lead, finishing more than two and a half minutes ahead of Vingegaard and claiming both the yellow and polkadot jerseys. Vingegaard would stay away, and the other chasers would come back together, covering up the cracks that the Tourmalet had revealed.
