On the 125-kilometre low-mountain stage around Bukowina Tatrzańska in southern Poland, not far from the Slovakian border, Barré rode ahead of the peloton for the final 38 kilometres, initially as part of a duo and then alone for the last 13 kilometres. Disunity within the peloton meant that the breakaway rider, who had all but been caught, managed to hold on to a ten-second lead over the first chasing group at a small mountain finish.

From there, Scaroni sprinted slightly better than Brenner. Maximilian Schachmann (Soudal Quick-Step), a second German rider, was seventh in this group. Barré’s team-mate Bart Lemmen, who had been leading the general classification until then, crossed the line in eleventh place, five seconds later, and thus had to hand the yellow jersey over to Scaroni by exactly that margin. Barré now sits in second place, three seconds behind the Italian. Brenner is now fourth, eleven seconds behind the leader.

Ahead of the final stage, the battle for the general classification is therefore fiercer than ever. The tour concludes with a twelve-kilometre time trial. Lemmen, in particular, is regarded as a strong time-trialist, but Brenner has also already demonstrated such qualities.

Barré is optimistic ahead of the time trial, whilst Scaroni is less so

​“It’s a shame we’ve lost the leader’s jersey, but the time trial is still to come, and we’re still aiming for overall victory,” said Barré after his stage win. “My attack today was down to my excellent form and my determination to make up for yesterday’s third place. Tomorrow I’ll give it my all, and we’ll see what the time trial brings.”

For now, however, the yellow jersey belongs to Scaroni and Astana. “To be honest, I hadn’t expected to take the jersey today. At the start of the stage, I didn’t feel in top form and really struggled in the peloton,” said the 28-year-old. “Now we’ve got the jersey. And even though tomorrow’s time trial isn’t my speciality, we’ll definitely give it our all to achieve the best possible result.”

As well as a new man in yellow, there is also a new holder of the mountains jersey. Dries de Bondt (Team Jayco AlUla), who had been wearing it since the start of the tour, had to hand it over to breakaway rider Walter Calzoni (Pinarello Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team). The 25-year-old Italian had collected enough points along the route to oust the Belgian. There is no longer any chance of a counter-attack on the final day. Meanwhile, the points jersey remains on the shoulders of three-time stage winner Jonathan Milan (Lidl - Trek).

2026 Tour de Pologne – Results of Stage 6

Here’s how the 6th stage of the 2026 Tour de Pologne unfolded

A leading group featuring some high-profile riders formed over the first two climbs of this stage, which was relatively short this time following several 200-kilometre stages. Nine riders, including Valentin Madouas (Groupama - FDJ United), Mikkel Bjerg (UAE Team Emirates – XRG) and Magnus Sheffield (Netcompany INEOS), managed to build a lead of up to one and a half minutes on the circuit, which included several ascents of the steep Bukovina Wall – a feature regularly featured in the tour’s programme.

With 38 kilometres to go, the breakaway was caught by the peloton led by Visma. On the penultimate climb up the Mauer, Santiago Buitrago (Bahrain - Victorious) and Barré made their move. However, the pair were only able to open up a 30-second gap over their pursuers. Interim chasing groups, which included, amongst others, Barré’s team-mate Wilco Kelderman and Frederik Wandahl (Red Bull – BORA – hansgrohe), never managed to break away.

With 13 kilometres to go, as the riders climbed the Wall for the final time, Barré stepped up the pace. His lead over the peloton had been barely ten seconds at that point. Whilst Buitrago had nothing left in the tank and was caught, the Frenchman gained ground metre by metre. There were repeated attacks from the peloton, with Jan Christen (UAE Team Emirates – XRG) and Finn Fisher-Black (Red Bull – BORA – hansgrohe) leading the charge. However, after these bursts of pace, the tempo kept dropping, meaning that Barré had a 30-second lead with ten kilometres to go.

As he began the final climb, just under four kilometres long, he still had a good half of that distance to go. On the steepest section of the climb, however, the gap widened again to almost 40 seconds. At the back of the peloton, there was still no sign of a breakaway forming. Uno-X Mobility tried individual attacks via Andreas Leknessund and Andreas Kron, whilst Astana sacrificed Diego Ulissi to do the chasing work. Yet on the levelling-off section at the end of the climb, the gap no longer closed quickly enough. Barré held on to a ten-second lead over the first group at the finish, which had a small gap after the tenth rider.

Lemmen came in behind them, was timed at 15 seconds and therefore had to hand the yellow jersey over to Scaroni, who sprinted to second place ahead of Brenner and thus also picked up bonus seconds.