Jonas Vingegaard and Visma-Lease a Bike are bracing for the Tour de France nightmare scenario of trying to cover attacks from Tadej Poga\u010dar and Isaac del Toro.<\/p>\n
The UAE Emirates-XRG\u2019s two-headed monster could light up Thursday\u2019s sixth stage across the heart of the Pyr\u00e9n\u00e9es in what might be the first look of Poga\u010dar\u2019s tactics for the next two weeks.<\/p>\n
Stage 6 crams a legendary route across the Pyr\u00e9n\u00e9es with three iconic climbs \u2014 Aspin, Tourmalet and then the summit finish at Gavarnie \u2014 all stacked up in the back half of the stage.<\/p>\n
After five days of baking across Spain and France, this Tour is hitting the high mountains early.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it\u2019s one of the most important stages in the Tour,\u201d Sepp Kuss told Velo<\/em>. \u201cIt can be a really dangerous stage with a long valley after, so you can gain a lot or lose a lot. We have to be on top of it tomorrow.\u201d<\/p>\n Unlike most editions, the 2026 Tour reaches the Pyr\u00e9n\u00e9es before the opening week is even over.<\/p>\n The finish at the Cat. 2 Gavarnie isn\u2019t what scares everyone. It\u2019s the mighty hulk of the HC Tourmalet with 40km to go.<\/p>\n The 22-year-old Del Toro already has a stage win in his pocket and sits just 24 seconds back overall, tucked in behind Poga\u010dar and Vingegaard, who remain dead level on time.<\/p>\n If Del Toro jumps, Visma and others cannot afford to let him go. And that could play perfectly into Poga\u010dar\u2019s hands.<\/p>\n One of the Tour\u2019s most iconic climbs could rip this race wide open.<\/p>\n A possible tactic making noise in the paddock is that UAE will send Del Toro up the road first, forcing Visma to decide whether to chase before Poga\u010dar launches his own attack.<\/p>\n There\u2019s a possibility that anyone who can carve out a gap over the top of the HC summit might have the gasoline to drive it all the way to the line at Gavarnie, especially if there are teammates up the road.<\/p>\n \u201cI think it\u2019s not so much covering all the moves, unless it\u2019s in the valley, the last one. Hopefully we\u2019re all there and can help out,\u201d Kuss said.<\/p>\n The big question is whether UAE will jump on the Tourmalet, wait for the much easier Cat. 2 finish to Gavarnie, or simply do nothing and wait for the Alps.<\/p>\n Whether UAE actually pulls the trigger is another question, because everyone is still relatively fresh with just five days of racing in the peloton.<\/p>\n But Visma isn\u2019t taking any chances.<\/p>\n \u201cThey\u2019re both really good riders and they\u2019re both here in great shape,\u201d Matteo Jorgenson told Velo<\/em> of Poga\u010dar and Del Toro. \u201cSo it will be not just up to us, but to all the teams to manage it.\u201d<\/p>\n Of course, Paul Seixas, Juan Ayuso, Remco Evenepoel, and all the other yellow contenders face the same problem, but Visma knows it will be first in line to answer anything UAE throws at the race.<\/p>\n Vingegaard dodged a bullet after a near-perfect opening week after the race jury didn\u2019t impose time differences in Wednesday\u2019s finish-line mayhem.<\/p>\n Thursday is everyone\u2019s first real mountain test and Visma knows it cannot afford to blink.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s the first mountain stage of this Tour, and it\u2019s actually the first or the only real mountain stage in the first two-ish weeks,\u201d Jorgenson said. \u201cSo it\u2019ll be a real GC day and very decisive.\u201d<\/p>\n Torstein Tr\u00e6en still holds nearly an eight-minute cushion over the GC favorites, so yellow is unlikely to change hands.<\/p>\n But Thursday could reveal whether Visma is racing against one UAE leader or two.<\/p>\n Don\u2019t miss a moment of the Tour de France. Get stage previews, insider recaps, and expert analysis from Velo delivered straight to your inbox with the Velo Tour Daily email newsletter.<\/em><\/p>\nWill Poga\u010dar or Vingegaard attack or sit tight?<\/h2>\n
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