Tour de France 2026 Favourites stage 3: Yellow jersey for the taking

fotobureau Cor VosAssuming the overall favourites have already fought it out for the yellow jersey over the first two days, stage 3 offers an ideal opportunity to pass it on to a lesser light. The Tour is still long, and the Pyrenean stage is demanding, but not enough to turn it into a battle among the giants. (Slideshow route/profile)

First published on 18 June

Put another way, for riders with their sights set on overall victory, there is not much to be gained on stage 3. With a podium ceremony every day – along with all the duties that come with wearing the yellow jersey – leading the Tour de France is an energy-sapping affair. So, paradoxically, the aim could be to lose cycling’s most coveted jersey, and the simplest way to do that is to allow the day’s breakaway plenty of leeway.

Given the likelihood that the attackers will get the chance to fight it out for both the stage win and the yellow jersey, there will be no shortage of interest in getting into the break. After 10 kilometres, the riders tackle a climb of 7.6 kilometres at 4.5%, and it remains to be seen whether the break will already have gone clear at the summit. From there, the riders head across flat to gently rolling roads towards the Pyrenees.

After just over 100 kilometres, the road begins to rise gradually before leading onto the Collada de Toses, a climb of 9.3 kilometres at 6.5%. From the summit, there are still almost 70 kilometres remaining, with the Col du Calvaire (11.4 kilometres at 4.1%) forming the approach to the finale. The Col de la Quillane (1.9 kilometres at 4%) offers another chance to put rivals under pressure, before the final climb to the ski resort above Les Angles: 4.7 kilometres at 4.6%, with the final 1.7 kilometres rising at 6.5%.

All in all, more than enough ammunition for an intriguing battle, with the stage win – and quite possibly a new yellow jersey – at stake.

We’ll continue to update this article in the build-up to the Tour de France.

Favourites 3rd stage - 2026 Tour de France

*** Lennert Van Eetvelt, Alex Baudin, Harold Tejada
** Giulio Ciccone, Iván Romeo, Warren Barguil, Tom Pidcock
* Ion Izagirre, Luke Plapp, Pello Bilbao, David Gaudu, Pablo Castrillo

Another interesting read: route 3rd stage 2026 Tour de France.

Tour de France 2026, stage 3: profiles

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profile finale