The Tour de France stage from Po to Gavani answered the question everyone was asking — what happened on the Tour de France stage from Po to Gavani — in the most dramatic fashion possible. Tadej Pagacha won the stage in dominant style, reclaimed the yellow jersey, and Jonas Vingard lost a staggering 2 minutes 40 seconds. After days of tactical chess, UAE Emirates finally played their hand on a 186km barnstormer that will be talked about for years. Here's everything that went down.
What Happened on the Tour de France Po to Gavani Stage?
The route from Po to Gavani covered 186 kilometres and was built around a very deliberate piece of race design. The Tormalet was placed early enough in the stage — not in the Pyrenees proper — to make break formation difficult and leave a brutal 17km finale at 7% average (with the last 13km averaging 8% or more) as the real battleground. Race organisers knew exactly what they were doing, and so did UAE Emirates.
03:15
Hubarts getting called over by the commissaire's car during chaotic break formation
Watch at 03:15 →
From the gun, it was chaotic. Camponauts jumped immediately, with Hubarts and Mads Pedersen joining him. But UAE sat back — they didn't need to be in a break. That attitude turned break formation into an absolute saga, stretching over 50 kilometres of racing as teams jostled for position and riders like Jorgensson and Pradom tried and failed to bridge across. Even Pagacha was seen managing proceedings himself, jumping across to moves and looking back to assess the situation.
One notable moment during all this: Hubarts got called over by the commissaire's car — apparently for some kind of hand or position issue on his bars. After a warning and a drop back to the peloton, many watchers thought he'd been disqualified. He hadn't. It just added to the early-race drama that defined the first half of the day.
What Was UAE's Race Strategy on the Tormalet Climb?
By the time the peloton hit the Tormalet, it was clear UAE had a very specific plan. With no breakaway up the road and Nils Plet setting a furious pace on the lower slopes, Tim Wellins took over and the selection began in earnest. Quinn Simmons, Moric — riders were getting spat out the back as UAE systematically dismantled the peloton.
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Del Toro launches his attack 5km from the summit of the Tormalet
Watch at 09:40 →
The key tactical moment came 5 kilometres from the summit. Del Toro got the signal. Something switched and he launched a ferocious acceleration. Remco Evenepoel and Lipovitz started their own pace behind, while Vingard pulled out of the group to try and follow. Del Toro spotted Vingard was off the back and accelerated further.
At this point Pagacha — who was just ahead — was visibly gesturing to Del Toro, seemingly telling him not to push so hard, that they could cooperate and take a huge gap together over the top. But the moment was already in motion. Pagacha pushed on himself and extended the gap. Vingard was somewhere around 2-3 seconds at first, then the gap started to stabilise — briefly — before everything came apart in the final kilometres of the climb.
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Vingard's face changes as he loses 15 seconds in the space of one kilometre
Watch at 13:55 →
How Much Time Did Vingard Lose on the Tormalet?
Here's where it gets brutal for the Danish yellow jersey holder. At 4 kilometres to go, Vingard had clawed back to within about 6-7 seconds of Pagacha. It looked, momentarily, like he might limit his losses. Then — at around 2 kilometres to go — something broke. His face changed. The suffering was written all over him and in the space of a very short stretch of road he lost 15 additional seconds very, very quickly.
Over the top of the Tormalet, the gap was around 30 seconds. Significant, but not necessarily catastrophic in a race of this length — if the stage finished there. It didn't. There was still 45 minutes of racing left, including a fast technical descent and a final category 2 climb.
And this is where the day truly fell apart for Vingard. On the descent, Pagacha — one of the most gifted descenders in the world — added approximately 35 more seconds. The first technical section was close, but on the fast open roads that followed, Remco and the Pagacha group absolutely flew. At the bottom of the final climb, Pagacha had 1 minute 10 seconds. By the finish line, that gap had more than doubled. Jonas Vingard lost 2 minutes 40 seconds on the day.
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Pagacha flying on the fast descent section, extending his lead to over a minute
Watch at 17:20 →
How Did Pagacha Win the Stage and Reclaim Yellow?
Tadej Pagacha's victory was comprehensive. He went clear on the Tormalet, extended on the descent, and rode solo to the finish to take his stage win — a victory he described as one of his sweetest, drawing comparisons to a 2023 stage where he broke his hand. He said he got flashbacks to that effort and ranked this one firmly in his top five Tour de France stage wins.
The win puts him back in yellow, now leading the race by 2 minutes 42 seconds over his nearest rival on the general classification. With Vingard's collapse, the race dynamics have completely shifted. Pagacha went from chasing to dominant leader in the space of one mountain stage.
Crucially, Pagacha is also closing in on the all-time Tour de France stage win record held by Mark Cavendish. His pursuit of that record adds another compelling storyline to what is already a remarkable race.
Why Was Remco Evenepoel Angry After the Stage?
Remco Evenepoel finished fourth on the stage, behind Pagacha, Del Toro, and ahead of the Sykes group. But he was not happy. The issue? His teammate Lipovitz reportedly failed to give him a proper leadout in the finale. Despite working together through the stage — with Remco even attacking on the final cat 2 climb to try and claw back time on Vingard — the coordination between the two was described as poor.
Remco was visibly frustrated post-stage. He gave everything, left it all on the road trying to chase down Vingard, but without the support of a coordinated Lipovitz working with him, the effort was less effective than it could have been. For a rider known for his precision and tactical intelligence, that kind of disorganisation is unacceptable — and you can bet there were some sharp words in the team bus afterwards.
Tour de France GC Standings After Po to Gavani Stage
The general classification after this stage looks dramatically different from how it did at the start of the day:
- 1st — Tadej Pagacha (Yellow Jersey)
- 2nd — Jonas Vingard — 2:42 back
- 3rd — Del Toro — only 3 seconds behind Vingard
- 4th — Remco Evenepoel — just a handful of seconds behind Del Toro
- 5th — Sykes — at 2:57, grouped with Lifts, Mozza, Lenny, and Cous not far behind
It's worth noting that Torsson — who briefly held the yellow jersey — lost it after crashing on the descent, a brutal end to what had already been a tough day. The battle for the podium is now razor-tight, particularly between Del Toro and Remco for third, separated by just seconds. The race is far from over, but Pagacha is firmly in the driving seat.
How Did the Breakaway Chaos Change the Race?
One underrated factor in how this stage played out was just how chaotic and exhausting the break formation was. Because UAE were clearly hunting a stage win and GC time, they had no interest in letting dangerous riders — particularly Piston who was chasing green jersey points at the intermediate sprint — slip into the break. This turned 50 kilometres of racing into an attritional battle before the real climbing even started.
By the time the peloton hit the Tormalet with no break established and no margin for a small group to go clear and survive, it was always going to come down to a GC shootout. UAE had engineered exactly that situation. With numbers, with pacing, with Del Toro's acceleration at 5 kilometres to go — everything about UAE's day was calculated. The chaos of break formation wasn't accidental. It was the race, shaped exactly the way UAE wanted it.
This was a masterclass in team racing, a spectacular stage win, and one of the most significant GC days we've seen in this Tour. The race resumes tomorrow — don't miss the recap.
