Tadej Pogačar Takes Yellow Jersey from Vingegaard, Leads Tour de France After Stage 3

The 2026 Tour de France moved from Catalonia for stage 3, a nearly 200 km journey featuring four significant climbs: one Category 1 and three Category 3 ascents, totaling an elevation gain of approximately 3,850 to 3,900 meters. The stage concluded in Les Angles, with no spectators present due to nearby wildfires. This demanding first major test of the race was dominated by Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates), who secured his first victory of the year and claimed the yellow jersey, overtaking Jonas Vingegaard (Visma | Lease a Bike).

Vingegaard had previously led the general classification after his team's victory in the Barcelona team time trial. He finished in the same time as Pogačar in stage 2, a stage where the Slovenian rider assisted his UAE Emirates teammate Isaac del Toro in achieving his first Tour stage win. The Mexican rider, who played a crucial role in helping Pogačar surge to the finish line, retained his white jersey as the best young rider.

However, in stage 3, Pogačar proved relentless in the final sprint to the finish line, crossing it two seconds ahead of Vingegaard and thus taking the overall lead in the general classification. Richard Carapaz of EF Education-EasyPost and Paul Seixas of Decathlon finished at the same time as Vingegaard.

Pogačar now leads the general classification with the same time as Vingegaard (8 hours, 46 minutes, and 55 seconds). Five riders, including Remco Evenepoel, Isaac del Toro, Juan Ayuso, Paul Seixas, and Florian Lipowitz, are trailing by less than a minute.