The peloton prepared for the longest stage of the three-day race. Between Cordes-sur-Ciel and Saint-Gaudens, the riders covered 200 kilometers. The toughest part of the stage came in the finale, where several climbs followed each other in quick succession.

A breakaway of six riders shaped the opening phase of the stage. As the hilly finale approached, the six-rider group began to fall apart. The last remaining escapee, Léandre Huck, was caught with ten kilometers to go after strong work from, among others, Tim Rex. In the final section, Davide Piganzoli took two bonus seconds at the intermediate sprint. As a result, the Italian moved up to fifth place in the general classification.

A new bunch sprint could not be avoided. After a difficult finale, the final kilometer also went steeply uphill. On the sharp finishing stretch, Zingle crossed the line in fourth place. Initially, Noa Isidore appeared to be the fastest, but shortly afterward the Frenchman was relegated. Ronan Augé was ultimately declared the stage winner. Zingle also moved up one place in the stage results.

“The stage went as expected,” sports director Robert Wagner reflected. “The teammates of GC leader Thibaud Gruel took the initiative, but at a certain point it was Rex’s turn. He helped make sure the breakaway riders were caught. We also managed to contest the sprint for the bonus seconds, with Davide taking two valuable seconds with tomorrow’s final stage in mind.”

“In the sprint, Axel got boxed in for a moment, so perhaps we did not get the maximum out of today. He has shown that he is in good shape, but unfortunately it was not rewarded. I look back on a strong team performance. We are looking forward to tomorrow’s queen stage, where there are still many possibilities,” Wagner concluded.