Tadej Pogacar claimed his fourth stage victory of the 2026 Tour de France on Saturday, attacking on the steepest climb of stage 14 to win at Le Markstein in the Vosges. The Slovenian now leads Jonas Vingegaard by 4 minutes 30 seconds in the general classification.
Decisive attack on Col de Haag
Pogacar made his move 1.6km from the summit of the final climb, the Col de Haag, and 7.5km from the finish line. He left Vingegaard, Paul Seixas and Remco Evenepoel behind, crossing the line alone for his 25th career Tour stage win.
“We knew today was one of the hardest mountain stages,” said the four-time Tour champion, “but we grabbed the opportunity. We made it hard and the other guys showed fight, so big respect to all the rivals, but I couldn’t waste good legs.”
Race still open, says Pogacar
Despite his commanding lead, Pogacar warned the race is far from over. “In 2023, I lost two minutes to Jonas in the time trial and the next day I lost eight minutes, so it’s quite obvious anything can change in one day.”
Pogacar admitted his morale had dipped last week but said a call from his partner, fellow pro Urska Zigart, on Saturday morning lifted his spirits. “I can say for now I’m more confident. Morale is good.”
Vuelta a España on the cards
Speculation that Pogacar will ride the Vuelta a España in August appears well-founded. Prince Albert of Monaco, where the Vuelta starts, said: “Pogacar said he would be at the start, so I hope that happens.” Pogacar confirmed: “If the Prince said, it’s a high chance.” A Vuelta win would give him a grand slam of all three Grand Tours.
Pidcock loses podium spot
Tom Pidcock’s podium challenge collapsed on the Col de Haag when Seixas’s Decathlon CMA CGM team set a relentless pace. The Briton dropped from second overall to seventh by the finish.
Seixas matched Vingegaard on the descent and outsprinted him for fourth place, taking the lead in the young rider classification. He is now fourth overall, just 15 seconds behind Evenepoel in third.
Luke Rowe on mentoring Seixas
Luke Rowe, sports director for Decathlon CMA CGM and former Team Sky road captain, said: “It’s nice to be optimistic, but sometimes you have to be realistic. The realistic situation is that there is one guy substantially better than the rest of the GC leaders and the rest of the peloton.”
Rowe has been mentoring the 19-year-old Seixas, particularly on descending. “He was descending very fast for the first half of the year,” Rowe said. “During the Tour, he’s been a little bit more cautious. If you’re racing GC, then a lot of the days it’s about getting from A to B, being patient and conservative, which some people think is boring, but that’s what it takes to be on the podium in the Tour.”
