Haugset Shakes The Tour With An 88-Kilometre Solo Ride And Takes Yellow

Sigrid Ytterhus Haugset produced the first great surprise of the 2026 Tour de France Femmes with a spectacular long-range victory in Poligny. The Norwegian champion spent around 110 kilometres in the breakaway and completed the final 88 alone, securing both her first Tour stage win and the yellow jersey.

The 156.5-kilometre route from Geneva crossed the Col de la Faucille early in the day before continuing through the demanding Jura terrain. Haugset entered the decisive move and then attacked with almost 90 kilometres remaining. What initially appeared to be an ambitious attempt gradually became a genuine threat as the favourites failed to organise an effective chase.

Lotte Kopecky launched a long pursuit and reduced part of the gap, but the SD Worx-Protime rider could not complete the comeback. Haugset reached Poligny 1:24 ahead of the Belgian. Marianne Vos finished third at 2:48, with Spain's Usoa Ostolaza taking an excellent fourth place.

The lack of cooperation among the general-classification contenders allowed the advantage to grow. Demi Vollering, Kim Le Court-Pienaar and Kasia Niewiadoma-Phinney attacked each other on the final hills, but their group repeatedly slowed down as nobody wanted to take full responsibility for the chase.

Haugset now leads Le Court-Pienaar by 2:02 and Vollering by 2:06. The 21-kilometre time trial to Dijon will test whether the Uno-X Mobility rider can defend the advantage, but her stage-three performance has already transformed the race and placed her name among the protagonists of this Tour.