Tour de France 2026: Schmid outguns Tejada in two-up sprint

fotobureau Cor VosIn an action-packed stage, Harold Tejada and Mauro Schmid slip away from the lead group with 16 kilometres to go. They stay clear of the chasing group featuring Tom Pidcock, before Schmid prevails in the two-up sprint. Tadej Pogacar retains the yellow jersey, while Pidcock climbs to fourth place in the overall standings. (Slideshow route/profile)

Stage 13 Results – 2026 Tour de France

1. Mauro Schmid (swi) 4:06:58
2. Harold Tejada (col) s.t.
3. Tom Pidcock (gbr) + 0:02
4. Maxim Van Gils (bel) s.t.
5. Brandon McNulty (usa) s.t.
6. Kévin Vauquelin (fra) s.t.
7. Jordan Jegat (fra) s.t.
8. Clément Braz Afonso (fra) s.t.
9. Tim Wellens (bel) s.t.
10. Luke Plapp (aus) + 0:11

- peloton + 7:32

GC after stage 12

1. Tadej Pogacar (slo)
2. Jonas Vingegaard (den) + 3:36
3. Remco Evenepoel (bel) + 4:06
4. Tom Pidcock (gbr) + 4:15
5. Juan Ayuso (spa) + 4:22
6. Paul Seixas (fra) + 4:35
7. Florian Lipowitz (ger) + 4:44
8. Isaac del Toro (mex) + 5:08
9. Mattias Skjelmose (den) + 5:45
10. Lenny Martinez (fra) + 6:34

Race report
Kasper Asgreen, Michał Kwiatkowski, Louis Vervaeke, Georg Zimmermann and Alex Kirsch break away in the opening phase. The peloton keeps chasing and brings the five back after 28 kilometres of action.

The race remains animated, and then a group of 37 riders goes clear, featuring Jasper Philipsen, Tom Pidcock, Ben Healy, Lars Craps, Romain Grégoire, Fred Wright, Quintens Hermans, Brandon McNulty, Tim Wellens, Kévin Vauquelin, Maxim Van Gils, Rick Pluimers and Mauro Schmid.

The peloton keeps up the chase. It is only when a group of 20 riders featuring Mads Pedersen, Ben O'Connor, Biniam Girmay, Michael Matthews, Harold Tejada, Clément Braz Afonso and Luke Plapp goes clear that the bunch finally backs off.

The peloton's deficit stretches to 8 minutes, while the chasing group bridges across to the leaders after a pursuit of several dozen kilometres. There are still 90 kilometres remaining at that point.

Philipsen wins the intermediate sprint in Mélisey ahead of Pedersen and Girmay.

Pluimers launches an early attack on the Ballon d'Alsace, but he's soon brought back. Craps fares no better before Van Gils accelerates 4 kilometres from the summit. He is joined by Pidcock, Jegat, Vauquelin, Plapp, Schmid, McNulty, Tejada and Braz Afonso, before Plapp takes over the initiative. The move is soon reeled back in before Wellens bridges across in the final kilometre before the summit. A fresh acceleration from Pidcock immediately drops him again.

Pidcock crests the climb first, followed by Schmid, Jegat, Plapp, Van Gils, McNulty, Vauquelin, Tejada and Braz Afonso. Wellens trails by 10 seconds at the top, but quickly regains contact on the descent.

Schmid and Tejada slip clear with 16 kilometres remaining and work together seamlessly The chasers never manage to get back on terms before the Colombian launches the sprint with a powerful kick, but the Swiss has the perfect response and storms to victory. Pidcock crosses the line 2 seconds later in third place.

The peloton finishes 7 minutes and 32 seconds down, meaning Tadej Pogacar retains the yellow jersey ahead of Jonas Vingegaard and Remco Evenepoel, while Pidcock moves up to fourth overall. As a result, seven riders are now separated by just over 1 minute and a half in the battle for second place.

Another interesting read: route 13th stage 2026 Tour de France.