Overview
- Tadej Pogačar won the third stage at Les Angles on July 6 and wore yellow after a tiebreak based on summed stage placings, marking his 22nd Tour stage victory.
- On Tuesday a 34‑rider breakaway succeeded and Mads Pedersen won the fourth stage in Foix while Torstein Træen, best placed among the escapees, assumed the yellow jersey with about a 7 minute 53 second lead over Pogačar.
- Pogačar and UAE Team Emirates deliberately let the break go to conserve energy and avoid the time and demands of podium and media protocol, a tactic riders say buys recovery ahead of the high mountains.
- Race organisers and the UCI introduced exceptional heat measures, including allowing multiple water bottles in musettes, and nearby wildfires have prompted spectator restrictions for rider safety.
- Træen's rise gives an underdog and cancer‑survivor a large buffer, but the coming Tourmalet and Gavarnie stages will test whether favourites can use the new rules and race control to reclaim time.