The Tour de France Needs to Stop Obsessing About Alpe d’Huez and Other Hot Takes from the 2026 Race

The Tour de France is over, and we’re all a little bit sad.

But we’re also a bit cooked from four weeks of cycling content.

That’s why we’re bringing you 21 hot takes and conclusions to help you relive this year’s race, but in a rapid-fire format.

So here we go, in no particular order – 21 takeaways from the 2026 Tour de France:

1. Tadej Pogačar is inevitable. Did anybody seriously think in the past six months he wouldn’t win a record-equaling fifth yellow jersey? And while recency bias is a thing, 2026 might have been Pogačar’s greatest Tour. He could have won eight stages and come to Paris with a 10-minute lead if he wanted to.

2. Quinn Simmons is an animal. Captain America, or should I say, Ricky Bobby, is well overdue a huge W. Don’t count him out for Montréal road worlds, seriously.

3. ASO needs to turn down the thermostat on the Tour de France. The raging heatwave that cooked the start of this year’s race won’t be a one-off. Moving the race from July or bringing stages forward to the morning are obvious ways to avoid the inevitable heat. Neither seem likely to happen. Maybe shorter stages are the work-around.

4. The Tour de France doesn’t need Alpe d’Huez, and the Alpe d’Huez doesn’t need the Tour de France. It’s ugly when it’s empty. It’s stupid when it’s spilling over with half a million frothing spectators. The race can live without those 21 bends. Only endless barriers (also ugly) or a ticketing system (unenforceable) will save them.

5. The green jersey and polka dot prizes are better without GC interference. A rejigged points structure incentivized Mads Pedersen to go rampaging over HC climbs to win green. The duel for breakaway mountains points between Richard Carapaz and Valentin Paret-Peintre was one of the most entertaining parts of the race. The more that ASO can do to keep the general classification separate from the sprint and mountains prizes, the better.

6. Speaking of which, Richard Carapaz and Mads Pedersen are bad-asses. Carapaz wearing full polka dots and a dangly gold chain while marauding over the Galibier was peak panache. And Mads? The man’s a monster. Just rewind to the start of stage 20 to see what the 77kg bundle of muscle did in the mountains.

7. It’s time to give Remco Evenepoel a break. Cycling’s favorite punchbag delivered the ride of his life to prove Red Bull and their controversial preparation program right. And of course, being Remco, he wasn’t afraid to point it out: “It’s proof the disbelief in me is unjustified,” he said after he sealed second overall on stage 20.

8. A little part of the race died when Jonas Vingegaard crashed out. Sure, the Dane’s chances at winning his third Tour de France were looking slim at the point he crashed out. But you know Vingegaard would have gone down swinging for the bubbling guts of Tadej Pogačar and his sickly superteam.

9. Lactate gels and drinks might be the new super fuel of the Tour de France. The first-gen lactate fuel being used by UAE Emirates-XRG and one other team – Velo understands it’s Lidl-Trek – has the scientific potential to revolutionize the Tour. However, this was just the prototyping test run. A full lactate fuel revolution might not be realized during Tadej Pogačar’s reign on Le Tour.

10. Paul Seixas delivered. The 19-year-old didn’t win the white jersey or get a spot on the podium, but he matched the extreme expectation in every other way. If Seixas wasn’t racing a guy getting pulls from Tadej Pogačar, he would have finished top-3. In fact, it’s maybe a good thing the French phenom didn’t get a step on the podium in 2026. He’s got another 15 years of that ahead of him.

11. Lidl-Trek’s special edition Tour de France bikes were ridiculous, in a good way.I want one.

12. Sepp Kuss remains the lovable “aw shucks” star of the pro peloton. He’s able to find the upside even when he just lost a Tour de France stage by falling and flirting with the precipice of a huge ravine. “It was a bit scary. Sorry to my wife and my family watching at home! That’s racing. I’m happy with the fight and the performance. It was a big day out,” he said after his stage 19 near miss.

13. Did you realize Jordan Jegat and Yannis Voisard finished 10th and 11th on GC? No, I didn’t think so. Congrats to them on sneaking a top placing without anybody really noticing.

14. On which note, where were Picnic-PostNL, Cofidis, and Groupama FDJ? I’m loath to beat down on the little guys, but they seemed to forget the assignment – to put those sponsor logos into breakaway photos. That was not the case for-Lotto-Intermarché – the Belgo-French crew had a riot, and Baptiste Veistroffer became everyone’s new favorite rider.

15. The Tour de France isn’t slowing down. Stage 11 was the fastest in history, and the entire race was run off at a record-breaking average speed.

16. Isaac del Toro has the potential to win the Tour de France. But his yellow jersey destiny is in the hands of his contract agent and his best bro Tadej Pogačar. Torito is locked in at UAE Emirates-XRG through 2029. He’ll only win the Tour if he moves teams or if Pogačar decides five yellow jerseys are enough.

17. The Tour de France needs more nark and needle. Riders are too nice now they’re bred on media training and PR policy. The race needed a little sprint beef and intra-team spats to spice things up.

18. The gap between the winners and losers continues to expand. Only 10 teams won a stage. Three teams won 12 of the 21 stages (UAE Emirates-XRG with 6, Soudal Quick-Step and Alpecin-Premier Tech both with 3). There were only two wildcard stage-winners (Søren Wærenskjold for Uno-X, Mauro Schmid for Jayco AlUla). Likewise, UAE and Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe gobbled 49 percent of the prize purse while six teams failed to break €20k. The growing gap is a problem that can only be fixed with a top-to-bottom reform of the sport – which won’t happen any time soon.

19. Doping discourse will always be a part of the Tour de France, even 20 years removed from Operación Puerto. But at least the debate is now about the zeal of drug testing authorities rather than the fallout of them not doing the job well enough.

20. Don’t doubt Mathieu van der Poel and Alpecin-Premier Tech. They always find a way. After botched leadouts, tossed helmets, and bad vibes in week 1, the Belgian team left the Tour with three stage wins: two for Van der Poel and one for Jasper Philipsen. The Alpecin team has won a stage at every Tour de France since 2021. We bet the streak runs through to 2028, at least.

21. Speaking of Mathieu van der Poel – Stage 21 of this year’s Tour de France was exquisite. Dear ASO, please leave the Paris Montmartre stage exactly as it was after it was trimmed in length to 90km. Two hours, 8km between the Montmartre and the finish line, and GC neutral. Stages like that will bring the Tour de France to a TikTok generation.