As predicted, a breakaway made it all the way to the finish line today, and out of a group that was as large as 39 riders at its largest, it was Mads Pedersen taking the win in Stage 4 of the 2026 Tour de France.
More importantly, we have a new maillot jaune, as Norway’s Torstein Træen (UnoX Mobility) finished well ahead of Tadej Pogacar.
The Tour entered France yesterday and the riders are set for the first stage of this edition to be raced entirely in the home nation. The 181.9 km route from Carcassonne to Foix links two medieval cities and offers spectacular terrain for battle, with 2,700 metres of elevation gain, a couple of cat. 2 ascents, and a flat finish.
It was expected to be another hot day, and organizers were issuing advisories to fans to stay hydrated and seek shade where possible. Temps were 107F out on the course!
Today marks the eleventh Tour stage start in Carcassonne, and stages from here have typically favored long-range attackers.
The peloton rolls out today without Arnaud De Lie (Lotto Intermarché). Weakened by a stomach infection since the start of the race, the Belgian struggled in yesterday’s stage before withdrawing a few kilometres short of Les Angles. He is the second rider to withdraw after Clément Berthet (Groupama-FDJ United), who crashed during the team time trial.
As the stage rolled out shortly after 1:30 p.m., Quinn Simmons (Lidl-Trek) immediately accelerated. Riders like Michal Kwiatkowski (Netcompany Ineos), Jonas Abrahamsen (Uno-X Mobility) and Romain Grégoire (Groupama-GFJ) also got in the mix early on.
Alex Kirsch (Cofidis) opened a small gap at km 2 with Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) in pursuit.
In short order, it was a group of fourteen riders out in front: Mads Pedersen, Mathias Vacek (Lidl-Trek), Georg Steinhauser (EF Education-EasyPost), Rob Stannard (Bahrain Victorious), Kevin Vauquelin (Netcompany Ineos), Pascal Eenkhorn, Jasper Stuyven (Soudal Quick-Step), Pablo Castrillo, Nelson Oliveira (Movistar), Alex Kirsch (Cofidis), Brent Van Moer (Pinarello-Q36.5), Alexandre Delettre (Total Energies), Frank van den Broek (Picnic PostNL), and Joel Nicolau (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA). The group of fourteen was soon joined by a chase group, making it close to forty riders in the break. After 16 km, they have a 30 second lead.
The lead moved out to 55 seconds by km 20, and the peloton seemed content to let them go.
Torstein Træen (Uno-X Mobility) sits highest in the overall standings: 24th, with a gap of 5’06”. Sean Quinn (EF Education-EasyPost) is 26th in GC (+5’34”).
The gap moved all the way out to 3’40” before stabilizing at around 3’30”.
Sprinters like Mads Pedersen, Jasper Philipsen and Biniam Girmay are all in the break today, aiming to secure as many points as possible at the intermediate sprint in Quillan (km 93.4).
Molenaar took the top KOM points at the Col du Paradis (km 58.1) with Steinhauser and Stannard taking second and third. They kept on pushing after the summit a little, but soon the break was back together.
At the intermediate sprint it was Girmay taking the top points ahead of Philipsen and Pedersen.
Next up was the Cat. 2 Col de Coudons.
With 83km to go, the gap was out to nearly 5 minutes. Vacek and Tratnik had a small lead of 15-20 seconds over a group of 29 riders. Jasper Philipsen and Binan Girmay were trailing. Back in the chase group, Torstein Træen is the virtual yellow jersey holder, with a 4 second advantage over Pogacar.
At the summit, it was Tratnik taking the top 5 pts, with Vacek, Molenaar and Garcia Pierna taking the rest.
With 74km to go, it was still Vacek and Tratnik out front with 29 chasing 32 seconds back. The gap has opened to 7’15”.
After starting in 24th place this morning, Torstein Træen has now moved 6’04” ahead of Pogacar!
Meanwhile, Alex Kirsch has bridged to Tratnik and Vacek at the front. The chasers trail by 20 seconds with 67 km to go.
Girmay and Philipsen have been reeled in by the bunch, currently lead by Florian Vermeersch (UAE Emirates-XRG). The gap was sitting at 7’30”.
40km to go and the leaders were all back together. The group of 29 still sits 7’50” ahead of the peloton, now being paced by Michael Valgren (EF Education-EasyPost).
The race was making its way up the Cat. 2 Col de Monsegur. While still not a monumental climb, it is steeper than the day’s earlier climb.
Quinn went on the attack with Debruyne, Simmons, Vacek, Pedersen, Træen, Castrillo in tow. Could he distance Træen and take the yellow jersey? Castrillo attacks, then Garcia Pena, but Quinn is holding their wheels.
Marco Frigo took the top KOM points atop the Col de Monsegur. Over the summit a new attack broke off. With 23 km to go, it was Mads Pedersen, Quinn Simmons, Mathias Vacek, Sean Quinn, Kévin Vauquelin, Ramses Debruyne, Torstein Traeen, Pablo Castrillo, Raul Garcia Pierna and Marco Frigo with a 45 second advantage over the remnants of the break, and 11’30” back to the peloton.
Castrillo made an attack, looking to make something happen for his Movistar team. Frigo and Pedersen were right on his wheel, though. There was just under 12km to go.
Castrillo and Garcia Pierna attack again and again with Vacek keeping them in check. Then Frigo making a go. But Quinn and Lidl-Trek are staying close as well.
The leaders were now in Foix. Still some strong sprinters in the lead group.
One of those was Mads Pedersen, and the win went to him. American Quinn Simmons came across in second.
2026 Tour de France: Stage 4 Brief Results
- Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trel)
- Quinn Simmons (Lidl-Trek)
- Raul Garcia (Movistar)
- Marco Frigo (NSN)
- Ramses Debruyne (Alpecin-Premier Tech)
2026 Tour de France: General Classification After Stage 4
- Torstein Træen (UnoX Mobility) @ 13h 2’46”
- Sean Quinn (EF Education – Easypost) @ 28″
- Mathias Vacek (LIDL-Trek) @ 3;50″
- Tadej Pogacar (UAE TEam Emirates – XRG) @ 7’53”
- Jonas Vingegaard (Team Visma | Lease a Bike) s.t.
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