Tour Auvergne - Rhône-Alpes 2026: Del Toro clinches the yellow jersey on the final day

The final stage of the 2026 Tour Auvergne Rhône-Alpes – which, until last year, was known by its traditional name, the Critérium du Dauphiné – has for years been designed as a gruelling climb. It is not uncommon for the general classification to be completely reshuffled on the final day. And the 2026 edition also featured a change of leader on the final stage: With his stage victory on the climb to the summit finish at the Plateau de Solaison, Isaac Del Toro (UAE Team Emirates - XRG) not only secured the stage win after 120 kilometres, but also moved to the top of the general classification. He took the yellow jersey off Luke Tuckwell (Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe).

Luke Tuckwell cannot defend the right flank

Juan Ayuso (Lidl - Trek) finished second, one minute behind, ahead of Tobias Halland Johanessen (Uno-X Mobility), who crossed the line two seconds later. Luke Tuckwell crossed the finish line in eighth place, 1 minute and 43 seconds behind, in the wake of his team-mate Maxim Van Gils. Tuckwell ultimately finished the tour in second place.

The starting point for Del Toro’s bid for overall victory was the final climb to the Plateau de Solaison – 11.5 kilometres long and averaging a gruelling 8.9 per cent gradient. Del Toro launched his attack a full 8.8 kilometres from the finish, quickly building up the decisive lead that would secure him the overall victory. The Mexican had started the stage 49 seconds behind Tuckwell, but had quickly closed the gap.

Paul Seixas has had to withdraw from the tour

In the general classification, Del Toro finished the tour 54 seconds ahead of Tuckwell, with Ayuso in third place, 1 minute and 17 seconds behind. Nadav Raisberg (NSN Cycling Team) secured the points classification, whilst Clément Braz Afonso (Groupama-FDJ United) won the mountains classification. The young rider classification also went to Del Toro.

The Frenchman Paul Seixas (Decathlon – CM CGM) did not finish the race. He started the final stage in sixth place overall, but fell behind on the first climb of the day and withdrew from the race after 35 kilometres. He had taken a tumble the day before.

Results – Stage 8 of the Tour Auvergne – Rhône-Alpes 2026:

Here’s how Stage 8 of the 2026 Tour Auvergne Rhône-Alpes unfolded

After around 15 kilometres, the day’s breakaway group formed, initially consisting of Laurens De Plus and Carlos Rodriguez (both Netcompany-Ineos), Léo Bisiaux (Decathlon-CMA CGM), Georg Steinhauser (EF Education-EasyPost), Valentin Paret-Peintre (Soudal-Quick Step), Harold Tejada (XDS-Astana) and Clément Braz Afonso (Groupama-FDJ United). Shortly afterwards, Kevin Vauquelin also caught up with the group, meaning Netcompany-Ineos had three riders in the breakaway. The stage began straight away with the climb up the Col du Pré (Category 1), where Braz Afonso took the mountain points.

No chance for Steinhauser's breakaway group

The peloton allowed the breakaway group a lead of around two minutes. Next up was the Montée de Bisanne (HC category), where Vauquelin and Bisiaux dropped back from the leading group. Braz Afonso once again took the mountain points. On the descent, Vauquelin and Bisiaux caught up with Steinhauser’s group again, meaning there were once more eight riders at the front.

​Subsequently, Team Lidl-Trek in particular stepped up the pace in the chase. With 50 kilometres to go, the gap to the breakaway riders was down to just one minute. Headwinds did not make things any easier for the group. De Plus won the mountain classification at the Col des Aravis (1st category).

Del Toro makes his move early on the final climb

There were around 60 kilometres remaining until the final climb to the Plateau de Solaison (HC category), which was consistently on a slight downhill gradient. However, the lead held by the breakaway group remained largely unchanged. With a lead of just 45 seconds over the peloton, the breakaway riders began the final climb. De Plus did the work there, given the Netcompany majority in the group, but the first attack came from Paret-Peintre, who pulled away from his companions by a few seconds. Shortly afterwards, Rodriguez caught up with the Frenchman. With such a small lead, however, there was little hope of a stage win. The rest of the group had already been caught after just a few kilometres of the climb.

Among the general classification contenders, Luke Tuckwell (Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe), wearing the yellow jersey, ran into trouble early on at the back of the group. With 8.8 kilometres to go, Isaac Del Toro (UAE Team Emirates - XRG) launched an attack and quickly overtook the two remaining breakaway riders, Paret-Peintre and Rodriguez.

Behind the Mexican, a chasing group formed around Matteo Jorgenson and Ben Tulett (Visma | Lease a Bike), Juan Ayuso and Matias Skjelmose (Lidl - Trek), Cristian Rodriguez (XDS Astana) and Tobias Halland Johanessen (Uno-X Mobility). However, the gap to Del Toro quickly grew to 30 seconds. As Tuckewell was already a minute behind at this stage, Del Toro was on course for overall victory. On the way to the finish, he eventually extended his lead even further.