Pogačar Blasts Away From Vingegaard on the Ramp to Les Angles and Snatches Yellow Back by the Finest of Margins
Tadej Pogačar answered the questions that had been hanging over him since Barcelona in the most emphatic way possible, powering clear of Jonas Vingegaard in the final metres of the first summit finish of the 2026 Tour de France to win Stage 3 at Les Angles and reclaim the yellow jersey. It was the world champion's 22nd career stage win at the Tour, and it arrived at the end of a brutal, sweltering day in the Pyrenean foothills.
The 195.9km stage from Granollers packed in roughly 3,850 metres of climbing, culminating in the 1.7km rise to the line at Les Angles. UAE Team Emirates-XRG controlled the closing kilometres with the same authority they had shown a day earlier in Barcelona, and it was Mexican sensation Isaac del Toro — the man Pogačar had gifted Stage 2 to — who delivered the perfect lead-out into the final ramp before his leader detonated the move.
Vingegaard, who had started the day in yellow by just six seconds, refused to let the wheel go easily. The Dane clawed his way back onto Pogačar's rear wheel time and again as the gradient bit, but with a couple of hundred metres remaining the Slovenian kicked one final time and the elastic snapped. Pogačar crossed the line two seconds clear, enough with the ten bonus seconds on offer to overturn the deficit. Richard Carapaz rounded out the podium in third, the Ecuadorian once again proving his class on the steepest terrain.
The result leaves the general classification finely poised in a way rarely seen at the top of a Grand Tour. Pogačar and Vingegaard finished the day locked on exactly the same overall time, with the yellow jersey decided only by countback — the sum of the two riders' placings across the opening road stages. Pogačar's stage win and his second place in Barcelona gave him the nod, and he will wear yellow into Stage 4 knowing the smallest of slips could hand it straight back.
Behind the two dominant favourites, the day exacted a toll. Remco Evenepoel was unable to match the accelerations, coming home eighth at four seconds and slipping to third overall at 23 seconds. "I lacked that extra punch," the Olympic champion admitted afterwards, pointing to his long spell away from racing before the Tour. France's great hope Paul Seixas lost 48 seconds on the climb, a sobering reminder of the gulf that still exists between the sport's two masters and the rest.
There was consolation in the polka-dot jersey, which passed to Alex Baudin after an aggressive ride from the day's breakaway. Isaac del Toro's selfless work for Pogačar was rewarded with fourth place overall at 24 seconds, with Juan Ayuso fifth at 27 seconds — evidence of just how deep the climbing talent runs behind the leaders.
For UAE, back-to-back wins and the yellow jersey represent a near-perfect opening weekend of racing on Spanish and French roads. For Vingegaard and Visma-Lease a Bike, there will be frustration at surrendering the lead they had seized in the Barcelona team time trial, but also encouragement: the Dane was the only rider who could live with Pogačar all the way to the line. With the mighty Col du Tourmalet looming on Stage 6, this Tour has all the makings of another duel for the ages.