Tour de France stage 4 preview: breakaway specialists eye victory on hilly ride from Carcassonne to Foix
The fourth stage of the 2026 Tour de France, the first to start and finish on French soil, offers a hilly 182-kilometre route from Carcassonne to Foix that should favour a breakaway rather than the general classification contenders.
Stage profile
Tuesday's stage covers between 181.9 and 182.9 kilometres through the Ariège foothills, with total elevation gain reported at 2,700 metres by some sources and 3,259 metres by others. After a flat opening 30 kilometres, the road rises through a series of climbs: the Col de Bedos (3.3 km at 4%), the Col du Paradis (5.8 km at 4.1%), the second-category Col de Coudons (10.7 km at 5.5%), and the decisive Col de Montségur (6.9 km at 6.6%), whose summit sits 35 kilometres from the finish. An intermediate sprint at mid-race adds a subplot for the green jersey contenders.
- Start in Carcassonne
- Col de Bedos (3.3 km at 4%)
- Col du Paradis (5.8 km at 4.1%)
- Intermediate sprint
- Col de Coudons (10.7 km at 5.5%, 2nd category)
- Col de Montségur (6.9 km at 6.6%, 2nd category)
- Finish in Foix
Favourites and tactics
After three stages dominated by Jonas Vingegaard, Isaac Del Toro and Tadej Pogačar, the rolling terrain is expected to open the door for baroudeurs. Irishman Ben Healy (EF Education), American Quinn Simmons (Lidl-Trek), Frenchman Romain Grégoire (Groupama-FDJ) and Czech Mathias Vacek (Lidl-Trek) are among the names tipped to feature in the break. Sprinters who can handle the climbs, such as Dorian Godon (Netcompany INEOS) and Michael Matthews (Team Jayco AlUla), could also contest the finish if the peloton keeps the escapees in check.
It's possible that UAE let the breakaway go and control the stage relatively coolly, without having to go all out. Everything will depend on which riders are in the break. We risk having a stage where the break can go all the way, and a change of yellow jersey could happen so that UAE don't have to control for three weeks.
Yellow jersey context
Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) took the race lead after winning Monday's summit finish at Les Angles. His team has the depth to defend the jersey, but Verbrugghe suggested they might willingly surrender it to a non-threatening breakaway rider to ease the burden over the remaining two weeks.
Broadcast and conditions
Temperatures are forecast to reach 38 °C, and the stage follows a day when wildfires in the Pyrénées-Orientales kept spectators away from the final kilometres. The race starts at 13:10 (official roll-out at 13:25) with an expected finish around 17:34. Live coverage begins at 12:45 on France Télévisions and at 13:30 on Eurosport.
