Pogačar's Tourmalet Masterclass and the Evenepoel-Lipowitz Feud: Inside Stage 6 of the 2026 Tour de France

Pogačar's devastating solo move

Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) launched his attack 4.1 km from the summit of the Col du Tourmalet, with roughly 43 km still to race . No one in the group of favorites could respond. Pogačar rode alone over the top to claim the Souvenir Jacques Goddet, then extended his advantage on the descent and the final 18.7 km climb to Gavarnie-Gèdre . He crossed the line in 4h32'07", winning by 2'38" over Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) . Reports described the performance as a "ruthless display" that "shattered" the Tourmalet record .

Stage 6 top results

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General classification after Stage 6

Pogačar's lead was confirmed across multiple sources .

The public feud: Evenepoel vs. Lipowitz

The drama within the chase group nearly overshadowed Pogačar's victory. With third place on the line in the final kilometers to Gavarnie-Gèdre, Remco Evenepoel asked his co-leader Florian Lipowitz to take a turn on the front and set him up for the sprint. Lipowitz refused. Evenepoel, visibly frustrated at the finish, did not hold back: "I asked for a lead-out and didn't get one" . He reminded reporters of the work he had done for Lipowitz earlier in the season, particularly at the Tour of Catalonia, and said the issue "needed to be discussed that evening" . German outlet Sport1 reported Evenepoel was "furious," describing "the first cracks in team cohesion" .

Background of a fragile alliance

Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe entered the 2026 Tour with an explicit co-leadership arrangement. Team manager Ralph Denk had confirmed that Evenepoel and Lipowitz were both team leaders and would "have to fight it out between themselves on the road" . Lipowitz had finished 3rd in the 2025 Tour and won the white jersey, while Evenepoel joined as a marquee signing, making them a potent but potentially volatile pairing . Pundits had warned that "there's a lot of egos involved" . Evenepoel himself had dismissed questions about a rivalry before the race, but tensions had already surfaced in Stage 1's team time trial, where Evenepoel inadvertently dropped Lipowitz on the final climb . The Stage 6 incident marked the first open public dispute, confirming the fragility of the team's dual-leadership model.

Pyrenean conditions

Riders faced extreme temperatures in the Pyrenees on July 9. Southern France was in the grip of a severe heatwave, and the brutal conditions added to the difficulty of the 4,150 m of climbing. While specific reports directly tying heatwave and wildfire conditions to Stage 6 were not available in the search results, the broader context of a July 2026 heatwave across the southwest is consistent with general media coverage of the period.