{"id":2030392,"date":"2026-07-06T15:23:51","date_gmt":"2026-07-06T12:23:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2030392"},"modified":"2026-07-06T15:23:51","modified_gmt":"2026-07-06T12:23:51","slug":"tour-de-france-stage-3-pogacar-blasts-into-yellow-as-del-toro-repays-gift","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2030392","title":{"rendered":"Tour de France Stage 3: Poga\u010dar Blasts into Yellow as Del Toro Repays Gift"},"content":{"rendered":"
Tadej Poga\u010dar wasn\u2019t giving any gifts on stage 3 of the Tour de France.<\/p>\n
The defending Tour de France champion launched a blistering uphill sprint and landed in the yellow jersey on Monday after a leadout by his teammate Isaac Del Toro.<\/p>\n
Jonas Vingegaard was left choking in Pogi\u2019s exhaust and came to the line two seconds back after the 1.7km hilltop kick to Les Angles.<\/p>\n
The result put Poga\u010dar back into the\u00a0yellow jersey he last wore in Paris last summer on countback after he and Vingegaard finished the day level on GC time.<\/p>\n
The Poga\u010dar-Del Toro bromance was evident when the Slovenian gave his winner\u2019s interview.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s because of Isaac today, I got extra power in the final,\u201d he laughed, gesturing to Del Toro off-camera. \u201cHe committed more than 100 percent in the final climb.<\/p>\n
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\u201cIn the middle of the stage, we decided it was possible to go for the stage win, and I\u2019m really happy that we started the Tour like this,\u201d Poga\u010dar continued.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was an incredible finish today.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sepp Kuss had led the reduced GC bunch into the hilltop finish of stage 3 for Vingegaard, but Del Toro wrestled away control and paced the group into the final 500m.<\/p>\n
From there, a UAE victory looked inevitable in scenes similar to the team\u2019s 1-2 masterclass on stage 2.<\/p>\n
But unlike on Sunday where Del Toro was \u201callowed\u201d to see his leadout through to the line, Poga\u010dar launched an unmatchable sprint for his 22nd Tour de France stage win.<\/p>\n
Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost) and Paul Seixas (Decathlon CMA CGM) came in on time with Vingegaard to take 3rd and 4th after Poga\u010dar\u2019s uphill assault.<\/p>\n
Del Toro, Juan Ayuso (Lidl-Trek) and Red Bull duo Remco Evenepoel and Florian Lipowitz finished two seconds later.<\/p>\n
Poga\u010dar and Vingegaard switched spots in the top-2 of the classification while the remainder of the top-6 remained unchanged.<\/p>\n
Poga\u010dar: \u2018To take yellow is a dream for any cyclist\u2019<\/h2>\nDeath, taxes, and Poga\u010dar in yellow at the Tour de France.<\/span> (Photo: Loic VENANCE \/ AFP via Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
UAE Emirates-XRG finished the stage with two wins in a row, the yellow jersey, and all the momentum.<\/p>\n
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Poga\u010dar suggested this might just be the start.<\/p>\n
\u201cOf course, to take yellow is a dream for any cyclist of any age,\u201d he said at the finish. \u201cFor me, every time I can get it on my shoulders, it feels special. I don\u2019t know how long this will last, but I try to enjoy every moment.\u201d<\/p>\n
Poga\u010dar was so unflustered after his uphill sprint that he was even lucid enough to crack a joke after being asked about his cannibalistic hunger for wins.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not so hungry, I eat a gel every 30 minutes,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Stage 3: Hot, uphill, hard<\/h2>\nThe peloton crossed the border into France on stage 3. Turns out it\u2019s hot there, too.<\/span> (Photo: Loic VENANCE \/ AFP via Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
Monday\u2019s stage was a sufferfest.<\/p>\n
The peloton raced over the Spanish border and into the French Pyr\u00e9n\u00e9es on a 196km course that pointed uphill almost all day. The majority of the 4,000m of ascent sprawled across a succession of big-ring climbs in the final 100km.<\/p>\n
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And the parcours might have been the least of the peloton\u2019s problems as the Tour races through a European heatwave. Temperatures averaged more than 30 degrees C throughout a stage partially closed to the public due to ongoing wildfires.<\/p>\n
The breakaway specialists liked what they saw in the rugged parcours amid rumors Vingegaard hoped to give away his yellow jersey.<\/p>\n
A superstar group of more than a dozen riders split away after 60km of racing and got a sizable gap.<\/p>\n
But UAE Emirates-XRG had other plans.<\/p>\n
Poga\u010dar wanted the win after he gifted glory to Del Toro on stage 2, and the UAE super team hammered on the front for most of the day.<\/p>\n
Last breakaway rider standing Alex Baudin (EF Education-EasyPost) succumbed to the UAE pain train at around 13km to go, just as the bunch braced for the final uphill grind to the line.<\/p>\n
Also, spare a thought for Arnaud De Lie (Lotto-Intermarch\u00e9) on Monday night.<\/p>\n
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The sickly sprinter was in a fight for survival on his own at the back for hours while the broom wagon sat on his wheel. He eventually abandoned as health woes continue to torpedo his career.<\/p>\n
Another chance for the break on stage 4?<\/h2>\n
Stage 4 on Tuesday is the first all-French day of Le Tour. The 182km medium mountain stage across the foothills of the Pyr\u00e9n\u00e9es should offer breakaway hopefuls another chance at glory \u2013 if Poga\u010dar allows it.<\/p>\n
You can find out all you need to know about stage 4 into Foix in our preview, here.<\/p>\n
[analyse_image type=”featured” src=”https:\/\/velo-cdn.outsideonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/GettyImages-2284903058.jpg”] Jim Cotton Updated July 6, 2026 10:28AM Tadej Poga\u010dar wasn\u2019t giving any gifts on stage 3 of the Tour de France. The defending Tour de France champion launched a blistering uphill sprint and landed in the yellow jersey on Monday after a leadout by his teammate Isaac Del Toro. Jonas Vingegaard was […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[226,71],"class_list":["post-2030392","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics","tag-crawlmanager","tag-velo-outsideonline-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2030392","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2030392"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2030392\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2030392"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2030392"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2030392"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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