The Vosges proved a tough challenge for the riders on the 14th stage of the 2026 Tour de France, featuring three Category 1 climbs. In the end, Tadej Pogacar was once again in a league of his own. Isaac del Toro secured a one-two finish for UAE Team Emirates – XRG.
It doesn’t necessarily have to be the Alps or the Pyrenees; there are plenty of tough climbs in the Vosges too that make for a spectacular mountain stage. The 14th stage, between Mulhouse and the finish at the ski resort of Le Markstein, featured a climb of around 3,800 metres in elevation gain.
In the final, Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates – XRG) was once again in a class of his own, launching an attack just before the summit of the final climb and riding the final six flat kilometres solo to the finish. With this victory, Pogačar celebrated his fourth stage win in this Tour. Overall, it was the 25th Tour stage win of his career.
Red Bull duo Evenepoel and Lipowitz are trailing behind
Second place was secured 38 seconds later by Pogacar’s team-mate Isaac del Toro, who, together with Paul Seixas (Decathlon CMA CGM Team), managed to hold off Jonas Vingegaard, who was unable to keep up with them in the final metres and crossed the line 44 seconds behind.
The Red Bull duo, Remco Evenepoel and Florian Lipowitz, crossed the finish line 48 and 50 seconds behind, respectively. Evenepoel had already struggled to keep up with the group of favourites on the final climb, but fought his way back on the flatter final six kilometres. Nevertheless, Evenepoel narrowly defended his third place in the general classification ahead of Seixas.
The climbs en route to the Grand Ballon (Category 1), Col du Page (Category 2) and Col d’Alsace (Category 1) have been a fixture of the Tour route through the Vosges for years. The final climb to the Col du Haag (Category 1), however, made its debut in the Tour de France route. The climb, just over eleven kilometres long with a gradient of more than seven per cent, was only recently upgraded to a road suitable for cycling. What all the climbs had in common was that, close to the German border, the Vosges attracted huge crowds of fans who lined the route to cheer the riders on frenetically.
The jerseys for the 2026 Tour de France
With his stage victory, Pogacar further extended his lead in the general classification. He now leads Vingegaard by 4 minutes and 30 seconds. Evenepoel follows in third place, 5 minutes and 4 seconds behind. Lipowitz moved up one place to sixth (+5:44), as Thomas Pidcock (Pinarello-Q36.5) failed to make an impact in the final stretch and dropped from fourth to ninth.
In the young rider classification, Seixas took the lead from Juan Ayuso (Lidl-Trek). Pogacar remains at the top of the mountains classification, although Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost) and Valentin Paret-Peintre (Soudal-Quick Step) picked up a few points during the stage. Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) continues to wear the green jersey.
2026 Tour de France – Results of Stage 14
Stage 14: Mulhouse - Le Markstein
Tour de France 2026: Stage 14, Mulhouse - Le Markstein
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No results available yet
Here’s how the 14th stage of the 2026 Tour de France unfolded
The first highlight of the stage came after just a few kilometres: the intermediate sprint in Wattwiller, where Jasper Philipsen (Alpecin–Premier Tech) secured the maximum 25 points ahead of Mads Pedersen (Lidl–Trek). Immediately afterwards, the climb up to the Grand Ballon (Category 1) began.
As the terrain became steeper, Richard Carapaz (EF Education – EasyPost) launched an attack from the peloton. He was initially joined by his team-mate Ben Healy (EF Education – EasyPost), Marc Hirschi (Tudor), Valentin Paret-Peintre (Soudal – Quick Step), Tymen Arensman (Netcompany – Ineos) and Javier Romo (Movistar). The group subsequently swelled to 28 riders, including Mattia Cattaneo and Jan Tratnik (Red Bull – Bora – hansgrohe), Egan Bernal and Kevin Vauquelin (Netcompany – Ineos), Tobias Steinhauser and Alex Baudin (EF Education – EasyPost), Lenny Martinez (Bahrain Victorious), Matteo Jorgenson, Victor Campenaerts and Bruno Armirail (Visma – Lease a Bike), and Felix Engelhardt (Jayco – AlUla).
Thomas Pidcock is riding in the leading group
In addition, Thomas Pidcock (Pinarello-Q36.5), who was fourth overall, joined the group, meaning that the peloton initially allowed them to pull away by more than a minute. Paret-Peintre won the mountain classification on the Grand Ballon in a sprint ahead of Carapaz.
The pair then continued their breakaway and, on the descent 110 kilometres from the finish, were joined by brothers Tobias and Anders Halland Johannessen (both Uno-X Mobility) and Healy.
Later, on the climb to the Ballon d’Alsace (Category 2), Einar Rubio (Movistar) also caught up, whilst Arensman suffered a mechanical problem whilst chasing and failed to stay with the group. Paret-Peintre won the mountain classification once again.
Paret-Peintre is diligently collecting mountain points
With 75 kilometres to go, the leading group of six was 1 minute 50 seconds ahead of the large chasing group led by Pidcock and around three minutes ahead of the peloton led by UAE Team Emirates – XRG.
On the day’s third climb, the Col d’Alsace (Category 1), Paret-Peintre also secured the mountains classification with 58 kilometres to go. The chasing group led by Pidcock was caught on the climb. At that point, however, the gap between the group of favourites – which had shrunk to around 40 riders – and the leading sextet was down to just two minutes.
The next challenge was the unclassified Col du Hunsrück. On this climb, Healy dropped out of the leading group after having worked extensively for Carapaz. On the approach to the Col du Haag (Category 1), Anders Halland Johannessen also dropped back 18 kilometres from the finish, having worked for his twin brother Tobias. However, the group reached the climb with a lead of just 1 minute 25 seconds over the group of favourites.
Carapaz, the last rider in the breakaway, takes on the favourites
On the climb to the Col du Haag, Carapaz gradually pulled away from his rivals and was riding alone at the front with 14 kilometres to go. The group of favourites soon dwindled to just a few riders, including Tadej Pogacar and Issac del Toro (UAE Team Emirates – XRG), Jonas Vingegaard (Visma | Lease a Bike), Remco Evenepoel and Florian Lipowitz (Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe), Juan Ayuso (Lidl - Trek) and Paul Seixas (Decathlon CMA CGM Team).
Carapaz held onto a lead of around 50 seconds over this group for a long time. Ten kilometres from the finish, Vingegaard pushed the pace at the front, leaving Evenepoel unable to keep up. Eight kilometres from the finish, the group then caught up with Carapaz and Tobias Halland Johannessen, who had in the meantime closed the gap on Carapaz. A few hundred metres later, Pogacar launched his attack, which no one could match.
