Van Gils - Tuckwell, two young eagles in Crest-Voland
June 12 th 2026 - 17:26
The final three mountainous stages of the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes 2026 started with a new climbing challenge to Crest-Voland that crowned early attackers, in line with Georg Zimmermann’s success in the same resort three years ago and with the many wins already claimed by breakaway riders this week. This time, no less than sixty riders broke away from the peloton in the early stages of a 182.3 km day of intense action! Luke Tuckwell was the main GC threat at the front as he only trailed by 1’03’’ in the overall standings. Indeed, the young Australian climber claimed the yellow and blue leader’s jersey on the line, finishing third in the stage… But not only did the rookie make a name for himself at the top level of professional cycling, he also played a key role in leading his Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe teammate Maxim Van Gils to victory ahead of Tobias Johannessen (Uno-X Mobility)! Three minutes behind them, Paul Seixas (Decathlon CMA CGM) and Isaac Del Toro (UAE Emirates-XRG) gained a handful of seconds on their rivals, starting with Matteo Jorgenson (Visma-Lease a Bike), who dropped 13 seconds.
A breakaway bunch!
There are 135 riders left in the peloton as they set off from Saint-Vulbas following the withdrawals of Wout van Aert (Visma-Lease a Bike), Finn Fisher-Black (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe), Hannes Wilksch (Tudor), Matevz Govekar (Bahrain Victorious), Pau Marti (NSN) and Michael Matthews (Jayco-AlUla).
The route encourages the attackers to make their move, and they are throwing themselves into it in large numbers. A veritable leading peloton breaks away at km 6 with 60 riders. Among them, the highest-ranked in the general classification are Luke Tuckwell (1’03’’ behind leader Alex Baudin), Bruno Armirail (1’20’’) and Guillaume Martin Guyonnet (1’51’’).
Most of the favourites are in the main peloton, which is already 1’20’’ behind at the 14 km mark, and where Paul Seixas’s Decathlon CMA CGM team are left to lead the chase. Two of his teammates who had taken up positions at the front are asked to come back to provide support, but the gap still widens to 1’50’’… after barely thirty kilometres of racing.
Tarling crashes and withdraws
As the leaders approach the Côte de Châtelard, the gap to the second group has widened further to 2’30’’. Clément Braz Afonso, who has been wise enough to follow the day’s breakaway, claims two KOM points at the summit (km 83.5).
The polka-dot jersey also leads the way at the Col du Granier (km 98.3), where he takes 5 points. At the summit, the leaders have lost Joshua Tarling (Netcompany Ineos), forced to abandon after a crash, but their lead is up to 2’55’’.
As they receive no support, Decathlon CMA CGM stop their effort. The gap rapidly increases, forcing Alex Baudin’s EF Education-EasyPost and Netcompany Ineos to react en route to the two cat-1 ascents to be tackled in quick succession t wrap up the stage.
The attackers are set to battle it out
At the bottom of the Côte d’Héry-sur-Ugine, the gap is up to 5 minutes. Attackers know they will battle for the stage win, and potentially the yellow and blue jersey as well. Some of them try to anticipate the final explosion but everything is decided on the ascent to Crest-Voland, taking on a different side (5.9 km at 7.7%) compared to the 2023 finale.
Georg Steinhauser (EF Education-EasyPost) attacks at the bottom of the climb but he’s rapidly caught and distanced by Maxim Van Gils (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) and Tobias Johannessen (Uno-XMobility). Pablo Torres (UAE Emirates-XRG) joins them at the front, and then it’s Luke Tuckwell (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) who bridges the gap and starts setting the pace at the front.
Full on battle on the final climb
Torres is dropped just before the final kilometre. Johannessen opens up the sprint but Van Gils passes him and takes victory four months after a very serious crash in the Clasic Jaen. Only three seconds behind them, Tuckwell is set to take the yellow and blue leader’s jersey.
In the GC group, Decathlon CMA CGM up the ante at the bottom of the final climb. Alex Baudin is immediately distanced. And Paul Seixas starts setting his own pace with 5 kilometres to go. Only four riders follow the French youngster: Isaac Del Toro (UAE Team Emirates-XRG), Matteo Jorgenson (Visma-Lease a Bike), Juan Ayuso, and Mattias Skjelmose (Lidl-Trek). The latter two are rapidly distanced.
Jorgensen is dropped into the last three kilometres. Seixas and Del Toro collaborate to gain 13 seconds on the American, and 22 on the Lidl-Trek duo. Kévin Vauquelin (Netcompany Ineos) loses a minute and a half. But it’s a much darker situation for his teammate Oscar Onley, who suffered a crash in the finale and drops almost half an hour.
