Stage 4 — Pedersen wins, Træen takes yellow as UAE lets it go

Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) won Stage 4 in Foix for his first Tour stage of 2026, with Quinn Simmons second in a Lidl-Trek 1-2. The bigger story: Uno-X Mobility's Torstein Træen inherited the yellow jersey after a front split, with the entire GC group of Pogačar, Vingegaard and Evenepoel finishing +12:59 down but tied on time at +0:00 in GC. Pogačar's reaction: "When we started, I had a full headache. Let Træen hold the jersey for a long time — he has a 7:53 deficit to make up."

Stage 4 — top 10

• 🏆 Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) — 4h 10'45", bonus 10"
• Quinn Simmons (Lidl-Trek) — s.t., bonus 6"
• Raúl García Pierna (Movistar) — s.t., bonus 4"
• Marco Frigo (NSN) — s.t.
• Ramses Debruyne (Alpecin-Premier Tech) — s.t.
• Kévin Vauquelin (Netcompany Ineos) — s.t.
• Sean Quinn (EF) — s.t.
• Torstein Træen (Uno-X Mobility) — s.t.
• Pablo Castrillo (Movistar) — s.t.
• Mathias Vacek (Lidl-Trek) — s.t.

The peloton with Pogačar, Vingegaard, Evenepoel, Ayuso, Seixas, Lipowitz finished +12:59 down on the stage. Because they all crossed the line together, GC gaps between the favourites did not change.

GC after Stage 4

• 🟡 Torstein Træen (Uno-X Mobility) — 13h 02'46"
• Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) — +0:00
• Quinn Simmons (Lidl-Trek) — +0:00
• Kévin Vauquelin (Netcompany Ineos) — +0:00
• Raúl García Pierna (Movistar) — +0:00
• Marco Frigo (NSN) — +0:00
• Sean Quinn (EF) — +0:00
• Ramses Debruyne (Alpecin) — +0:00
• Pablo Castrillo (Movistar) — +0:00
• Mathias Vacek (Lidl-Trek) — +0:00
• Tadej Pogačar (UAE-XRG) — +7:53
• Jonas Vingegaard (Visma) — +7:53
• Remco Evenepoel (Red Bull-Bora) — +7:53
• Juan Ayuso (Lidl-Trek) — +7:53
• Paul Seixas (Decathlon CMA-CGM) — +7:53

Pedersen and Simmons deliver another Lidl-Trek 1-2

Pedersen / Simmons repeat the pattern from Stage 2 — except this time Pedersen takes the win, his first in this Tour. Pedersen's green-jersey points jump to 103, unassailable in the near term. Simmons collects his second stage podium of the race.

Træen takes yellow — the tactical twist

Træen was inside the day's front split after attacking the breakaway. Because the entire GC group finished 12:59 down but together, the Norwegian climber from Uno-X Mobility — a Norwegian ProTeam — inherits yellow by a single second. This is a deliberate UAE decision: the 7:53 buffer means any mountain stage where Træen finishes outside the favourites' group will return the jersey to Pogačar.

Vingegaard's bus loses AC

Vingegaard had to ride to the stage start under police escort after Visma's team bus suffered an air-conditioning failure in the heatwave. A replacement bus was dispatched from the Netherlands.

Stage 4 time-cut drama

Cyclingnews reported Australian Kelland O'Brien (Jayco-AlUla) finished more than eight minutes after the time cut at Foix on his Tour debut, having struggled since a Stage 2 crash. Dutch sprinter Arvid de Kleijn (Tudor) just beat the time cut, finishing +41 minutes down after suffering on the climbs. Both riders continued on the road.

What it means for Stage 5

Stage 5 (Lannemezan → Pau, 158.3 km) is the first pure bunch-sprint stage. Træen is unlikely to contest the sprint. GC teams will conserve for Stage 6's Tourmalet summit finish. Expect Milan / Pedersen / Philipsen / Kooij / Merlier to fight for the stage win.

Sources

• letour.fr Stage 4 ranking — letour.fr/en/rankings/stage-4
• Cyclingnews Stage 4 reporting: "Tour de France: Mads Pedersen scorches stage 4 sprint with Quinn Simmons closing for Lidl-Trek one-two as yellow jersey changes hands"
• Cyclingnews GC standings: "Torstein Træen takes the yellow jersey from Tadej Pogačar after successful breakaway on stage 4 — Uno-X Mobility breakaway rider launches into the overall lead"
• Pogačar quote: "When we started, I had a full headache" — Cyclingnews