Stage 12 - Pogačar edges Vingegaard at Puy Mary, takes 1'09" lead into rest day

Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) won Stage 12 at Puy Mary in a two-up sprint with Jonas Vingegaard on the final 800 m of the dormant volcano's climb, the steepest section of the 2026 Tour so far. The Slovenian took 4 seconds on the line and a further 8 seconds in the bonus, but the real winner was the GC standings: Pogačar extends his lead to 1'09" — and Remco Evenepoel lost another 22 seconds to fall 1'51" behind.

Stage 12 — top 10

• 🏆 Tadej Pogačar (UAE) — 4h 14'06", bonus 10"
• Jonas Vingegaard (Visma) — +0:04, bonus 6"
• Mattias Skjelmose (Lidl-Trek) — +0:38
• Juan Ayuso (Lidl-Trek) — +0:38
• Isaac del Toro (UAE) — +0:42
• Remco Evenepoel (Red Bull-Bora) — +0:50, bonus 4"
• Felix Gall (Decathlon CMA-CGM) — +1:32
• Florian Lipowitz (Red Bull-Bora) — +1:32
• Tobias S. Foss (Netcompany Ineos) — +2:18
• Lenny Martinez (Bahrain Victorious) — +2:18

GC after Stage 12

• 🟡 Tadej Pogačar (UAE) — 42h 12'33"
• Jonas Vingegaard (Visma) — +1:09
• Remco Evenepoel (Red Bull-Bora) — +1:51
• Juan Ayuso (Lidl-Trek) — +1:54
• Isaac del Toro (UAE) — +2:05
• Mattias Skjelmose (Lidl-Trek) — +2:26
• Florian Lipowitz (Red Bull-Bora) — +3:55

The two-up sprint on Puy Mary

The Puy Mary is a beast: 5.2 km at 10.4% average, with 800 m at 14% near the summit. The stage had already taken the field over the Col de Font de Cère (HC) and the Pas de Peyrol (HC) for the second time in three days, with the first 100 km ridden in steady rain.

Pogačar attacked at 3.5 km to go. Vingegaard followed immediately, and the two opened 35 seconds on the Evenepoel-led chase group within 1 km. The Dane set tempo for the next 2 km, then sat up 800 m from the line. Pogačar led out the sprint, won by a clear bike length, and took the maximum 10-second bonus. Vingegaard kept 6 seconds of bonus for second, leaving a 4-second gap on the road and 12 seconds of total time gained by Pogačar on his rival.

Evenepoel cracks on the steepest ramps

The Pyrenees will be tough for Evenepoel if he can't match the 14% ramps of Puy Mary. The Belgian cracked 1.5 km from the summit, lost 12 seconds in the final 500 m alone, and crossed 50 seconds after Pogačar — 22 seconds behind Vingegaard. The Belgian is now 1'51" down, a gap that will be very hard to recover in three Pyrenean stages if the trend continues.

UAE's Isaac del Toro, the white-jersey holder, kept his lead over Lenny Martinez but lost 17 seconds to Pogačar on the final climb. The Mexican sits 2'05" behind his team leader in GC.

Other jerseys

• 🟢 Green: Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) — 288 pts (+10 from intermediate sprint)
• 🔴 Polka-dot: Tadej Pogačar (UAE) — 96 pts (took max points on Puy Mary summit)
• ⚪ White: Isaac del Toro (UAE) — 25 years old, 17 seconds ahead of Lenny Martinez
• 🟡 Team: Lidl-Trek — 14 seconds ahead of UAE

What it means for the rest day

Friday is the second rest day. The Pyrenees open on Saturday with Stage 14 (Pau → Laruns, 173 km, 4,800 m of climbing) — the legendary Tourmalet + Aubisque double — and continue Sunday with Stage 15 (Bagnères-de-Luchon → Superbagnères, 168 km, 4,500 m). Vingegaard's team has publicly said the Pyrenees are "the race", and the Dane has finished 1st + 1st at Superbagnères in the last two Tours. If Pogačar can limit his losses to 30 seconds across the weekend, he will start the third week with a 1-minute cushion. If Vingegaard finds 30 seconds, the yellow jersey changes shoulders.

Sources

• letour.fr Stage 12 ranking — letour.fr/en/stage-12
• letour.fr Stage 12 report — Pogačar wins Puy Mary
• letour.fr GC after Stage 12
• UCI commissaires report — no incidents