Stage 3 — Pogačar wins at Les Angles, takes yellow, Seixas 4th

Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) won Stage 3 at Les Angles and took the yellow jersey from Jonas Vingegaard by two seconds. The defending champion attacked the final climb to the Pyrenees ski station, dropped Vingegaard, and reclaimed yellow he had not held since Stage 1.

Paul Seixas (19, Decathlon CMA-CGM) finished 4th on the stage, +0:02 — the same time as Vingegaard and Richard Carapaz. On a summit finish in his first Tour, the Frenchman held the wheel of the two best stage-race riders in the world.

Stage 3 — top 10

• 🏆 Tadej Pogačar (UAE-XRG) — 4h 45'11", bonus 10"
• Jonas Vingegaard (Visma) — +0:02, bonus 6"
• Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost) — +0:02, bonus 4"
• Paul Seixas (Decathlon CMA-CGM) — +0:02
• Tobias H. Johannessen (Uno-X Mobility) — +0:04
• Lennert Van Eetvelt (Lotto) — +0:04
• Florian Lipowitz (Red Bull-Bora) — +0:04
• Remco Evenepoel (Red Bull-Bora) — +0:04
• Isaac del Toro (UAE-XRG) — +0:04
• Juan Ayuso (Lidl-Trek) — +0:04

GC after Stage 3

• 🟡 Tadej Pogačar (UAE-XRG) — 4h 48'07"
• Jonas Vingegaard (Visma) — +0:02
• Remco Evenepoel (Red Bull-Bora) — +0:03
• Filippo Ganna (Netcompany Ineos) — +0:08
• Juan Ayuso (Lidl-Trek) — +0:16
• Isaac del Toro (UAE-XRG) — +0:16
• Florian Lipowitz (Red Bull-Bora) — +0:19
• Mattias Skjelmose (Lidl-Trek) — +0:47
• Tobias H. Johannessen (Uno-X) — +0:50
• Lennert Van Eetvelt (Lotto) — +0:50

Pogačar flips the GC by two seconds

After two days chasing the 12-second TTT deficit, Pogačar takes yellow on the first mountain stage. His 10" stage bonus and Vingegaard's 6" second-place bonus narrow the gap to 6 seconds on the road — but the stage was decided by attack distance: Pogačar soloed the summit finish and beat Vingegaard by 2 real seconds.

Seixas takes the spotlight

The 19-year-old Decathlon debutant finished 4th, +0:02 — same time as Vingegaard and Carapaz. Pre-race he said: "I'm most curious how my body will adapt after 10, 12, 15 days." The answer on day 3: better than anyone could have predicted. He holds the white jersey and confirms himself as a podium contender.

Evenepoel quiet, Lipowitz consistent

Both Red Bull co-leaders at +0:04 on the stage, +0:03 / +0:19 GC. Evenepoel remains in podium position but lost 2 seconds to Pogačar in the bonus fight — a small gap that compounds in the Pyrenees.

What it means for Stage 4

Stage 4 (Carcassonne → Foix, 181.9 km) is the second mountain stage. Heat and fatigue from Stage 3 could encourage breakaway aggression — especially from riders like Træen (Uno-X), who finished +0:01:38 on Stage 3 and is targeting mountain breakaways. UAE will try to defend the yellow jersey on the final climb to Foix. Visma will look for a counter-attack to recover the 2-second gap.

Sources

• letour.fr Stage 3 ranking — letour.fr/en/rankings/stage-3
• Pre-race route profile: letour.fr / Cycling Weekly / Cyclingnews
• Seixas pre-race quote: Velo/Outside, Andrew Hood, 2026