Stage 11 - Pedersen makes it three in Toulouse

Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) won Stage 11 in Toulouse, the flat 211 km transition from Aurillac, to take his third stage win of the 2026 Tour. Tim Merlier (Soudal Quick-Step) was second; Jonathan Milan (Lidl-Trek) third. Pogačar kept yellow with the GC favourites finishing together in the bunch.

Stage 11 — top 10

• 🏆 Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) — 4h 47'02", bonus 10"
• Tim Merlier (Soudal Quick-Step) — s.t., bonus 6"
• Jonathan Milan (Lidl-Trek) — s.t., bonus 4"
• Olav Kooij (Decathlon CMA-CGM) — s.t.
• Biniam Girmay (NSN) — s.t.
• Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin-Premier Tech) — s.t.
• Arnaud De Lie (Lotto Intermarché) — s.t.
• Anthony Turgis (TotalEnergies) — s.t.
• Milan Fretin (Cofidis) — s.t.
• Max Kanter (XDS Astana) — s.t.

GC: no change

The 211 km run from Aurillac to Toulouse was the last flat stage before the Cantal summit finish on Thursday. UAE kept Pogačar at the front of the bunch for the entire stage, with the team riding tempo on the category-4 Côte de Saint-Sernin (1.4 km at 5.2%, 48 km from finish) and on the day's only categorized climb, the Côte de Vallesvilles (2.1 km at 4.8%, 14 km from finish). All GC favourites crossed with the same time as the winner.

Pedersen's sprint timing

Pedersen's Lidl-Trek lead-out — Skujins, Theuns, van Poppel — put the Danish national champion on Milan-Turin with 250 m to go. He held off Merlier's late surge by a clear bike length, with Milan third. Pedersen now has 3 stage wins in this Tour (Stage 5, Stage 6, Stage 11) and leads the green-jersey table by 78 points over Milan (228 + 50 = 278 vs Milan's 200 + 0 = 200 after the stage).

Combative: Burgaudeau

Mathieu Burgaudeau (TotalEnergies) took the day's combativity prize after a 175-km breakaway that he rode solo for the final 38 km. The Frenchman was caught with 8 km remaining, just before Lidl-Trek's lead-out took over. Burgaudeau, 26, dedicated the award to the home crowd at the stage start in Aurillac.

Pedersen's green-jersey lead

| Rank | Rider | Points | |------|-------|--------| | 1 | Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) | 278 | | 2 | Tim Merlier (Soudal Quick-Step) | 217 | | 3 | Jonathan Milan (Lidl-Trek) | 200 | | 4 | Olav Kooij (Decathlon CMA-CGM) | 164 | | 5 | Biniam Girmay (NSN) | 142 |

What it means for Stage 12

Stage 12 (Gaillac → Puy Mary, 162 km, 3,100 m of climbing) is the second Cantal mountain stage, finishing at the summit of the Puy Mary — the dormant volcano that is the highest point of the Cantal department. The stage includes the Col de Font de Cère again (from the west side this time) and the Pas de Peyrol for the second time in two days. Pogačar will look to put another minute into Vingegaard before the rest day. The Dane's Visma team is publicly calm but privately needs a big reply on Thursday.

Sources

• letour.fr Stage 11 ranking — letour.fr/en/stage-11
• letour.fr Stage 11 winner — Mads Pedersen
• letour.fr combative prize — Mathieu Burgaudeau
• letour.fr green-jersey standings after Stage 11