2026 Tour de France stage 4 preview | Now it really is a day for the breakaway (or is it, Tadej?)

Will there ever be a chance for the breakaway riders at this Tour de France? UAE Team Emirates-XRG wasted no time in the first two road stages, with victories for Isaac Del Toro and then Tadej Pogacar. But the Slovenian is clad in the yellow jersey, and the fourth stage of the Tour de France seems too simple for the climbers—but also too difficult for the sprinters. IDL Pro Cycling takes a look.

After crossing the border in Stage 3, Stage 4 is the first stage to take place entirely in France. We’ll start in beautiful Carcassonne. Below the Cité—the old, walled city center (including the castle)—the riders will begin a 181-kilometer stage with 2,700 meters of elevation gain. Once again, it won’t be easy!

The first section is relatively simple. After thirty kilometers of flat riding, the road starts to undulate a bit for the first time, with two categorized climbs in a hilly section spanning about 35 kilometers. It will be a good time to form a breakaway group. Or will that have already happened?

After a flat section, we’ll reach an intermediate sprint in Quillan. For those who recognize it: that’s where Bauke Mollema won his Tour stage in 2021. Immediately after the intermediate sprint, the road climbs for nearly eleven kilometers: the Col de Coudons is a Category 2 climb. If there’s a large breakaway group, it might already start to break apart here.

After a plateau at the top comes a short descent, followed by the day’s toughest climb. The Col de Montségur begins in Fougax-et-Barrineuf. It starts with a section that’s deceptively flat, but the real climb is 6.9 kilometers long, with a 6.6 percent gradient. It’s definitely not easy. After the descent, the route continues to undulate a bit, but it’s not too strenuous: it’s the earlier kilometers that will make it particularly challenging.

The final kilometers aren't particularly difficult: few turns, little elevation gain. In the finish town of Foix, there's a sharp right-hand turn about 300 meters from the finish line, after which the road climbs slightly toward the finish. It could turn out to be a grueling sprint.

Times
Start: 1:25 p.m.
Finish: approximately 5:20 p.m.

It remains scorching hot, even across the border in France. In Carcassonne, temperatures could reach as high as 38 degrees, and in Foix, it won’t be much better. No rain and a moderate northwesterly wind: it’s going to be a hellish day.

It’s going to be a day that’s too tough for the sprinters, but the favorites don’t seem to have a chance here either. And the attackers? They’re licking their lips at the sight of this stage. You can count on seeing many of the names we saw in the breakaway on Monday—or riders who wanted to be there. Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) was there, but the stage to Foix suits him better than Stage 3.

Mathias Vacek and Quinn Simmons also have a shot on a day like this. Magnus Cort (Uno-X Mobility) is another fast rider who climbs well, but the Norwegian team also has Torstein Traeen and Jonas Abrahamsen. For Jayco AlUla, we expect Michael Matthews, but perhaps also Luke Plapp and Mauro Schmid.

Many eyes will also be on Mathieu van der Poel. These are the stages he came to the Tour de France for. With teammates like Emiel Verstrynge and Ramses Debruyne, he can bring strong riders along with him. Lotto-Intermarché can spread its bets across several riders with Liam Slock, Jenno Berckmoes, and Huub Artz; the same goes for Tudor, with Julian Alaphilippe and Rick Pluimers.

Picnic PostNL is also targeting these kinds of stages: that’s where Frank van den Broek will have to step up. TotalEnergies has a host of attackers in its ranks, including Alexandre Delettre. Alex Aranburu is a dangerous rival for Cofidis, while Movistar also has two strong Spaniards in its ranks: Pablo Castrillo and Raúl García Pierna.

The EF Education-EasyPost attack team will also be in the mix. Maybe not Richard Carapaz or Alex Baudin this time, but you can definitely count on powerhouses like Michael Valgren, Kasper Asgreen, and Ben Healy. At Netcompany INEOS, a strong Filippo Ganna could make a difference, but otherwise it might be Dorian Godon or Kévin Vauquelin’s turn.

NSN could go with Marco Frigo and Krists Neilands, or opt for a sprint with someone like Jake Stewart or Lewis Askey. At Soudal Quick-Step, we can keep an eye on Pascal Eenkhoorn, Dylan van Baarle, or Jasper Stuyven, while XDS Astana is hoping that Aaron Gate and Simone Velasco have recovered from their crashes. Caja Rural Seguros - RGA is hoping for a good day for their fast rider, Stefano Oldani.

Top Favorites: Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Premier Tech) and Quinn Simmons (Lidl-Trek)
Dark horses: Mads Pedersen, Mathias Vacek (Lidl-Trek), Ben Healy (EF Education-EasyPost), Michael Matthews (Jayco AlUla), and Magnus Cort (Uno-X Mobility)
Long shots: Jonas Abrahamsen (Uno-X Mobility), Pascal Eenkhoorn, Dylan van Baarle, Jasper Stuyven (all Soudal Quick-Step), Michael Valgren (EF Education-EasyPost), Marco Frigo (NSN), Filippo Ganna, Dorian Godon (Netcompany INEOS), Alex Aranburu (Cofidis), Julian Alaphilippe, Rick Pluimers (both Tudor), Mauro Schmid (Jayco AlUla), Jenno Berckmoes, Liam Slock (Lotto-Intermarché)