Pogacar crushes Tour de France rivals and storms the Tourmalet to regain overall lead

Pogacar crushes France" class="entity-link entity-event" data-entity-id="12008" data-entity-type="event">Tour de France rivals and storms the Tourmalet to regain overall lead 1 of 5 | Slovenia’s Tadej Pogacar celebrates as he crosses the finish line to win the sixth stage of the France" class="entity-link entity-event" data-entity-id="12008" data-entity-type="event">Tour de France cycling race with start in Pau and finish in Gavarnie-Gedre, France, Thursday, July 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus) 2 of 5 | Slovenia’s Tadej Pogacar rides during he sixth stage of the France" class="entity-link entity-event" data-entity-id="12008" data-entity-type="event">Tour de France cycling race with start in Pau and finish in Gavarnie-Gedre, France, Thursday, July 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus) 3 of 5 | Mexico’s Isaac Del Toro and Slovenia’s Tadej Pogacar lead the race during the sixth stage of the France" class="entity-link entity-event" data-entity-id="12008" data-entity-type="event">Tour de France cycling race over 201.5 kilometers (115.5 miles) with start in Pau and finish in Gavarnie-Gedre, France, Thursday, July 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus) 4 of 5 | Spectators cheer Slovenia’s Tadej Pogacar during the sixth stage of the France" class="entity-link entity-event" data-entity-id="12008" data-entity-type="event">Tour de France cycling race with start in Pau and finish in Gavarnie-Gedre, France, Thursday, July 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus) 5 of 5 | France’s Paul Seixas, left, rides during the sixth stage of the France" class="entity-link entity-event" data-entity-id="12008" data-entity-type="event">Tour de France cycling race with start in Pau and finish in Gavarnie-Gedre, France, Thursday, July 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Mosa’ab Elshamy) 1 of 5 | Slovenia’s Tadej Pogacar celebrates as he crosses the finish line to win the sixth stage of the France" class="entity-link entity-event" data-entity-id="12008" data-entity-type="event">Tour de France cycling race with start in Pau and finish in Gavarnie-Gedre, France, Thursday, July 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus) 1 of 5 Slovenia’s Tadej Pogacar celebrates as he crosses the finish line to win the sixth stage of the France" class="entity-link entity-event" data-entity-id="12008" data-entity-type="event">Tour de France cycling race with start in Pau and finish in Gavarnie-Gedre, France, Thursday, July 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus) Add AP News on Google Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. Share 2 of 5 | Slovenia’s Tadej Pogacar rides during he sixth stage of the France" class="entity-link entity-event" data-entity-id="12008" data-entity-type="event">Tour de France cycling race with start in Pau and finish in Gavarnie-Gedre, France, Thursday, July 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus) 2 of 5 Slovenia’s Tadej Pogacar rides during he sixth stage of the France" class="entity-link entity-event" data-entity-id="12008" data-entity-type="event">Tour de France cycling race with start in Pau and finish in Gavarnie-Gedre, France, Thursday, July 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus) Add AP News on Google Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. Share 3 of 5 | Mexico’s Isaac Del Toro and Slovenia’s Tadej Pogacar lead the race during the sixth stage of the France" class="entity-link entity-event" data-entity-id="12008" data-entity-type="event">Tour de France cycling race over 201.5 kilometers (115.5 miles) with start in Pau and finish in Gavarnie-Gedre, France, Thursday, July 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus) 3 of 5 Mexico’s Isaac Del Toro and Slovenia’s Tadej Pogacar lead the race during the sixth stage of the France" class="entity-link entity-event" data-entity-id="12008" data-entity-type="event">Tour de France cycling race over 201.5 kilometers (115.5 miles) with start in Pau and finish in Gavarnie-Gedre, France, Thursday, July 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus) Add AP News on Google Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. Share 4 of 5 | Spectators cheer Slovenia’s Tadej Pogacar during the sixth stage of the France" class="entity-link entity-event" data-entity-id="12008" data-entity-type="event">Tour de France cycling race with start in Pau and finish in Gavarnie-Gedre, France, Thursday, July 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus) 4 of 5 Spectators cheer Slovenia’s Tadej Pogacar during the sixth stage of the France" class="entity-link entity-event" data-entity-id="12008" data-entity-type="event">Tour de France cycling race with start in Pau and finish in Gavarnie-Gedre, France, Thursday, July 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus) Add AP News on Google Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. Share 5 of 5 | France’s Paul Seixas, left, rides during the sixth stage of the France" class="entity-link entity-event" data-entity-id="12008" data-entity-type="event">Tour de France cycling race with start in Pau and finish in Gavarnie-Gedre, France, Thursday, July 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Mosa’ab Elshamy) 5 of 5 France’s Paul Seixas, left, rides during the sixth stage of the France" class="entity-link entity-event" data-entity-id="12008" data-entity-type="event">Tour de France cycling race with start in Pau and finish in Gavarnie-Gedre, France, Thursday, July 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Mosa’ab Elshamy) Add AP News on Google Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. Share Updated [hour]:[minute] [AMPM] [timezone], [monthFull] [day], [year] Gavarnie-Gedre, France (AP) — Tadej Pogacar produced a tremendous solo ride on the iconic Col du Tourmalet on Thursday to earn a 23rd France" class="entity-link entity-event" data-entity-id="12008" data-entity-type="event">Tour de France stage victory, reclaim control of the race and sap his rivals’ morale after just six days of racing.Pogacar, who first wore the yellow jersey after winning at Les Angles earlier this week, made the most of the first big mountain trek of this year’s Tour in the Pyrenees to stamp his authority, sending a clear message to his rivals that he remains in a class of his own.The two-time world champion covered the final 43 kilometers (around 27 miles) alone, crossed the Stage 6 finish line 2 minutes, 38 seconds ahead of his main challenger, Jonas Vingegaard, and reclaimed the coveted jersey. “I would say this one goes in the top five of my France" class="entity-link entity-event" data-entity-id="12008" data-entity-type="event">Tour de France victories,” Pogacar said. “This is an incredible victory, and one of the sweetest for sure. I was not calculating seconds or minutes, I just wanted to go full gas all the way to the finish.”Pogacar’s teammate, Isaac Del Toro, was third, 2:57 off the pace, ahead of Remco Evenepoel and Paul Seixas. Overall, Vingegaard lags 2:42 behind Pogacar, with del Toro in third place.With his latest show of force, the UAE Emirates-XRG leader took a big step toward a record-equaling fifth Tour victory. Only Belgian Eddy Merckx, Spaniard Miguel Indurain and Frenchmen Jacques Anquetil and Bernard Hinault have won five Tours. Scorching heat and iconic ascentsThe stage started in scorching heat and was marked by several unsuccessful attempts of breakaways early on. Pogacar’s teammates, along with those of Vingegaard in Visma-Lease a Bike, set a fast tempo even before the day’s biggest climbs. The last stage in the Pyrenees took riders through two iconic ascents, the Col d’Aspin and the Tourmalet. 2 MIN READ 2 MIN READ Once Ben O’Connor managed to get away, he was allowed some freedom because he was not a threat in the general classification. He was first at the foot of Aspin and was caught with about 5 kilometers of the climb left.Riders then tackled the grueling 17.1 kilometer ascent up the Tourmalet, the first HC climb of the 2026 Tour — which means Hors Catégorie (beyond classification), because it is the hardest level. Overnight leader Torstein Træen was dropped before del Toro accelerated with his leader on his wheel about 4.5 kilometers from the summit. Træen later crashed on the descent and was assessed by the race’s medical team before resuming his effort. Pogacar then went solo, with Vingegaard digging deep to limit his losses. Pogacar reached the summit first, and Vingegaard tried to claw back his 30-second deficit in the downhill. But tucked into an aerodynamic position, his rival took the same risks and was even faster.Pogacar had a lead of more than a minute as he tackled the final climb up to the finish line in the town of Gavarnie-Gedre. He never looked back and the gap kept increasing.“I woke up at 7 this morning and my mind was going crazy,” Pogacar said. “I was really excited for today. I knew it was going to be a good day.”