Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes 2026 Stage 6 Preview | The mountains beckon — at last!

The flat stages of the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes are over: we’re heading into the mountains! We kick off this grueling final weekend with a stage to Crest-Voland, which the climbers have been looking forward to. IDL Pro Cycling takes you through the details.

The transitional stages are behind us — the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes is heading into the mountains. We kick off a gruelling final weekend with a stage to Crest-Voland that the climbers will have been circling on their calendars. IDL Pro Cycling takes you through it.

The first proper mountain stage of the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes starts in Saint-Vulbas, in the south of the Ain-Bugey département. From that small village, the peloton sets off on a 182-kilometre stage with almost 3,000 metres of climbing — though the opening kilometres are relatively flat as the race heads south-east.

The first hill comes after 28 kilometres, but is unclassified. The real climbing only begins after an intermediate sprint in Les Échelles at the 76-kilometre mark. First up is the Côte de Châtelard (4.3km at 5.7%), followed by the Col du Granier — a regular fixture on the old Critérium du Dauphiné route — climbed from its easier side this time (8km at 5.7%).

The descent takes riders down the steeper face to Chapareillan, leading into a long valley. The race passes south of Chambéry before turning north-east towards the finale. After roughly fifty flat kilometres, the climbing resumes 22km from the finish with the Côte d'Héry-sur-Ugine — the longest ascent of the day at 11.5km, though not particularly steep at 5.1%.

After a short descent, the final climb begins. The peloton takes on the lower slopes of the Col des Saisies before the stage ends at the ski resort of Crest-Voland: a 5.9km climb at 7.7%, with sections approaching 10%. Not extreme, but never easy.

Times
Start: 12:35 p.m.
Finish: around 5:05 p.m.

This is the weather the riders have been waiting for. The thermometer will climb to 26 degrees at the start in Saint-Vulbas with the sun out in force. It will cool down at altitude in Crest-Voland, but temperatures will stay above 20 degrees. Wind will play no role in stage 6.

No Jonas Vingegaard, no Tadej Pogacar in France. It is the other podium contenders who have a chance to shine in stage 6. Will it be hard enough to produce real time gaps? That remains to be seen — but a climber will win. Paul Seixas (Decathlon CMA CGM) is perhaps the strongest pure climber at the start. He wants to win the overall, and could make his move here.

There are plenty of challengers, however. Isaac del Toro (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) will be eager to test his climbing legs again. The last time we really saw him do so was back in February at the UAE Tour: the Tirreno-Adriatico never went uphill for long enough, and he abandoned at the Basque Country.

Matteo Jorgenson is well-positioned to challenge both of them. The American has been in excellent shape since the team time trial and could potentially take the yellow jersey. Visma | Lease a Bike also have Ben Tulett and Jørgen Nordhagen in reserve. Lidl-Trek, meanwhile, have both Juan Ayuso and Mattias Skjelmose as potential stage-win candidates.

The riders best placed in the overall standings come from the Netcompany INEOS camp. Kévin Vauquelin and Oscar Onley finished second in the team time trial and took time in the opening stage as well. And what can their teammate Carlos Rodríguez do here? At Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe, several riders will be given freedom: think of Daniel Felipe Martínez, Maxim Van Gils and Luke Tuckwell.

Alex Baudin (EF Education-EasyPost) hopes to hold on to the yellow jersey, though the gaps are tight — and he has Ben Healy and Georg Steinhauser to help him. Tobias Halland Johannessen is the man for Uno-X Mobility, while Soudal Quick-Step are looking to Valentin Paret-Peintre. XDS Astana have dangerous outsiders in Harold Tejada and Lorenzo Fortunato.

Cian Uijtdebroeks must carry Movistar's depleted squad to a result, while Jayco AlUla have a capable climber in Luke Plapp. Tudor have named Yannis Voisard as their protected rider. And make a note of Georg Zimmermann (Lotto-Intermarché) too — he has won here before, taking stage 6 of the 2023 Critérium du Dauphiné at this very finish.

Top favorites: Paul Seixas (Decathlon CMA CGM)
Dark horses: Isaac Del Toro (UAE Team Emirates-XRG), Matteo Jorgenson (Visma | Lease a Bike), Juan Ayuso (Lidl-Trek), and Oscar Onley (Netcompany INEOS)
Long shots: Cian Uijtdebroeks (Movistar), Kévin Vauquelin (Netcompany INEOS), Valentin Paret-Peintre (Soudal Quick-Step), Mattias Skjelmose (Lidl-Trek), Luke Plapp (Jayco AlUla), Jørgen Nordhagen, Ben Tulett (both Visma | Lease a Bike), Maxim Van Gils, Luke Tuckwell (both Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe), Harold Tejada, Lorenzo Fortunato (both XDS Astana), and Tobias Halland Johannessen (Uno-X Mobility)